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The  Atlanta  University  Publications,  No.  9 


NOTES  ON 


PARTICULARLY 


A  Social  Study  made  under  the  direction  of 

Atlanta  University  by  the  Ninth 

Atlanta  Conference 


Price,  ^  Cents 


The  Atlanta  University  Press 
H         ATLANTA,  GA. 
1904 


rffim 


^OR  thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty  One 
that  iiihabiteth  eternity,  whose  name 
is  Holy :  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy  place, 
with  him  also  that  Is  of  a  contrite  and  hum  == 
ble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble, 
and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones. 

Isaiah  lvii,  15. 


I mi    'li    —  li ■  ill iih»mii  nil  mi  nil    Till  mil1 


SOME  NOTES 


ON 


NEGRO  CRIME 


PARTICULARLY 


IN  GEORGIA 


Report  of  a  Social  Study  made  under  the  direction 

of  Atlanta  University;  together  with  the  Pro= 

ceedings  of  the  Ninth  Conference  for  the 

Study  of  the  Negro  Problems,  held  at 

Atlanta  University,  May  24,  1904 


EDITED  BY 

W.  E.  BURQHARDT  DU  BOIS 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 


The  Atlanta  University  Press 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

1904 


Modified  form  of  slavery  survives  where- 


ever  prison  labor  is  sold  to  private  persons 


for  their  pecuniary  profit. 


-Wines. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface     ........  v 

Bibliography vii 

1.  The  Problem  of  Crime  (F.  B.  Sanborn) 1 

2.  Crime  and  Slavery 2 

3.  Crime  and  the  Census 9 

4.  Extent  of  Negro  Crime 13 

5.  Crime  in  Cities  (by  M.  N.  Work) 18 

6.  Crime  in  Georgia.     The  Prison  Commission 32 

7.  Crime  in  Georgia.     Special  Reports         .        .         .        .        .        .35 

8.  Atlanta  and  Savannah  (by  H.  H.  Proctor  and  M.  N.  Work)    .  49 

9.  Crime  in  Augusta  (by  A.  G.  Coombs  and  L.  D.  Davis)     .        .  52 

10.  What  Negroes  think  of  Crime 54 

11.  Causes  of  Negro  Crime 55 

12.  Some  Conclusions 60 

13.  The  Ninth  Conference 64 

14.  Resolutions 65 

Index 67 


H,  we  who  are  one  body  of  one  soul ! 
Great  soul  of  man  born  into  social  form ! 
Should  we  not  suffer  at  dismemberment? 
A  finger  torn  from  brotherhood ;  an  eye 
Having  no  cause  to  see  when  set  alone. 
Our  separation  is  the  agony 
Of  uses  unfulfilled — of  thwarted  law. 

Perkins-Gilman. 


mtt 


PREFACE 


A  study  of  human  life  to-day  involves  a  consideration  of  conditions 
of  physical  life,  a  study  of  various  social  organizations,  beginning 
with  the  home,  and  investigations  into  occupations,  education,  relig- 
ion and  morality,  crime  and  political  activity.  The  Atlanta  Cycle  of 
studies  into  the  Negro  problem  aims  at  exhaustive  and  periodic  studies 
of  all  these  subjects  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  American  Negro.  Thus 
far,  in  nine  years  of  the  ten-year  cycle,  we  have  studied  physical  condi- 
tions of  life  (Reports  No.  1  and  No.  2.)  ;  social  organization  (Reports 
No.  2  and  No.  3)  ;  economic  activity  (Reports  No.  4  and  No.  7.)  ;  ed- 
ucation (Reports  No.  5  and  No.  6.) ;  and  religion  (Report  No.  8.)  This 
year  we  touch  upon  some  aspects  of  the  important  matter  of  Negro 
crime,  confining  our  study  for  the  most  part  to  one  state.  The  whole 
discussion  of  crime  in  the  United  States  has  usually  been  based  on  the 
census  returns,  and  these  are  very  inadequate.  In  this  study  the  fol- 
lowing sources  of  information  were  relied  upon : 

Special  studies  of  court  returns  and  other  data  in  Atlanta  and  Savannah. 
Reports  from  Mayors,  Chiefs  of  Police  and  other  officers  in  37  counties  of 

Georgia. 
Reports  from  colored  and  white  citizens  in  37  counties  in  Georgia. 
A  study  of  arrests  and  commitments  in  20  cities  of  the  United  States. 
Seven  reports  of  the  Georgia  Prison  Commission. 
Answers  of  2,000  school  children  and  students. 

These  data  are  less  complete  than  in  the  case  of  most  of  our  previous 
studies  and  few  conclusions  can  be  drawn  until  further  facts  and  fig- 
ures are  available.  The  forthcoming  government  report  on  crime  will 
undoubtedly  be  of  great  aid  in  further  study. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  study,  the  editor  is  especially  indebted  to 
the  county  officials  of  Georgia  and  to  a  hundred  or  more  private  cor- 
respondents. He  is  under  particular  obligations  to  Professor  M.  N. 
Work  of  the  Georgia  State  College,  the  Rev.  Mr.  H.  H.. Proctor  of  Atlanta, 
and  Frank  Sanborn,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  Mass.  The  proof  reading  was 
largely  done  by  Mr.  A.  G.  Dill,  who  also  drew  the  diagrams  and  ar- 
ranged the  index. 

Atlanta  University  has  been  conducting  studies  similar  to  this  for 
the  past  nine  years.  The  results,  distributed  at  a  nominal  sum,  have 
been  widely  used.  Notwithstanding  this  success,  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  these  important  studies  is  greatly  hampered  by  the  lack  of 
funds.      With    meagre   appropriations  for  expenses,   lack   of  clerical 


vi  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

help  and   necessary  apparatus,  the   Conference   cannot  cope  properly 
with  the  vast  field  of  work  before  it. 

Especially  is  it  questionable  at  present  as  to  how  large  and  impor- 
tant a  work  we  shall  be  able  to  prosecute  during  the  next  ten-year  cy.- 
cle.  It  may  be  necessary  to  reduce  the  number  of  conferences  to  one 
every  other  year.  We  trust  this  will  not  be  necessary,  and  we  earn- 
estly appeal  to  those  who  think  it  worth  while  to  study  this,  the  great- 
est group  of  social  problems  that  has  ever  faced  the  nation,  for  substan- 
tial aid  and  encouragement  in  the  further  prosecution  of  the  work  of 
the  Atlanta  Conference. 


A  SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  NEGRO  CRIME 


C.  H.  Alexander.— The  Majesty  of  Law.    University,  Miss.    1900. 

Benjamin  C.  Bacon.— Statistics  of  the  Colored  People  of  Philadelphia.  Philadelphia, 
1856. 
Ibid.    2nd  ed.  with  statistics  of  Crime.    Philadelphia,  1859. 
J.  O.  Ballagh.— A  History  of  Slavery  in  Virginia.    160  pp.  Baltimore,  1902. 

J.  S.  Bassett.— History  of  Slavery  in  North  Carolina.    Johns  Hopkins  University 
Studies.    Baltimore,  1899. 
Slavery  and  Servitude  in  the  Colony  of  North  Carolina.    Baltimore.    The  Johns 
Hopkins  Press.    April  and  May,  1896. 

L.  E.  Bleckley. — Outrages  of  Negroes  no  Excuse  for  Lynching.    Forum,  16:300. 

J.  R.  Brackett.— Progress  of  the  Colored  People  of  Maryland.    Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity Studies.    Eighth  Series. 
The  Negro  in  Maryland.    270  pp.    Baltimore. 

Status  of  the  Slave,  1775-1789.    Essay  V.  in  Jameson's  Essays  in  the  Constitutional 
History  of  the  United  States,  1775-1789.    Boston,  1889. 

L.   Brandt.— Negroes  of  St.  Louis.    Pub.  American  Statistical  Society.    Vol.  VII., 
1903. 

P.  A.  Bruce.— Plantation  Negro  as  Freeman.    New  York,  1889. 

G.  W.  Cable.— Negro  Freedman's  Case  in  Equity.    Century,  7:409. 

Rev.  Dr.  R.  F.  Campbell.— The  Race  Problem  in  the  South,  1899. 

C.  W.  Chestnutt.— Thomas  on  the  American  Negro.    Book  Buyer,  38:350. 

T.  R.  R.  Cobb.— Inquiry  into  the  law  of  Negro  Slavery  in  the  U.  S.  A.  Vol.  1.  Phila- 
delphia and  Savannah,  1858. 
Law  of  Negro  Slavery  in  the  various  States  of  the  United  States,  8vo.    Philadel- 
phia, 1858. 

W.  H.  Collins.— The   Domestic  Slave  Trade  of  the  Southern  States.    154  pp.  New 
York,  1904. 

Colored  Statistics.— Nation,  77:400-1.    Nov.  19, 1903. 

Condition  of  the  Negro  in  various  Cities.    Bulletin  United  States  Department  of  La- 
bor, No.  10. 


NEGRO   CRIME  vii 

J.  Cook.— Race  Riots  in  the  South.    Our  Day,  5:406. 

H.  S.  Oooley.— Slavery  in  New  Jersey.    Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies.    Balti- 
more, 1897. 
J.  E.  Cutler.— Proposed  Remedies  for  Lynching.    Yale  Review.    August,  190-1. 

F.  Douglas.— Treatment  of  Negroes:  the  Color-Line.    North  American,  13:57. 
Lynching  of  Black  People  because  they  are  Black.    Our  Day,  13:298. 

W.  S.  Drewry.— The  Southampton  Insurrection.    Washington,  1900. 

W.  E.  B.  DuBois.— Thomas  on  the  American  Negro.    Dial,  30:262. 

Some  Notes  on  Negroes  in  New  York  City.    Atlanta  University,  1903. 

The  Black  North.— The  New  York  Times,  1901. 

Negro  and  Crime.    Independent,  May,  1896. 

Philadelphia  Negro.    520  pp.     Philadelphia,  1899. 

Souls  of  Black  Folk,  264  pp.    Chicago,  1903. 

Negroes  of  Farmville,  Va.    Bulletin  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  No.  14. 

The  Negro  in  Black  Belt.    Bulletin  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  No.  22. 

Bryan  Edwards.— History,  Civil  and  Commercial,  of  the  British  Colonies  in  the  West 
Indies.    London,  1807. 

R.  P.  Falkner.— Crime  and  the  Census.  Pub.  American  Academy  Political  and  Social 
Sciences.    No.  190. 

George  Fitzhugh.— Cannibals  all  or  Slaves  without  Masters.    Richmond,  1857. 

B.  O.  Flower.— Burning  of  Negroes  in  the  South.    Arena,  7:639. 

Wm.  O.  Fowler.— Local  Law  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  historically  con- 
sidered: and  the  Historical  Status  of  the  Negro  in  Connecticut.  Albany,  1872 
and  New  Haven,  1875. 

Wm.  Goodell.— The  American  Slave  Code  in  Theory  and  Practice.  Judicial  deci- 
sions and  illustrative  facts.    New  York,  1852. 

H.  W.  Grady.— Reply  to  Mr.  Cable  (Negro  Freedman's  Case  in  Equity).  Century, 
7:909. 

H.  Gregoire.— Enquiry  concerning  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  etc.,  of  Ne- 
groes.   Brooklyn,  1810. 

F.  J.  Grimke.— The  Lynching  of  Negroes  in  the  South.    1899. 

W.  Waller  Hening.— Statutes  at  large  of  Virginia.    Richmond,  1812. 

F.  L.  Hoffman.— Race  Traits  and  Tendencies  of  the  Negro.  American  Economic 
Association.    11:1. 

Hull  House  Maps  and  Papers.    New  York,  1895. 

J.  O.  Hurd.— The  law  of  freedom  and  bondage  in  the  United  States.    Boston  and 

New  York,  1858, 1862. 
Edward  Ingle.— The  Negro  in  the  District  of  Columbia.    Johns  Hopkins  University 
Studies.    Vol.  XL  Baltimore,  1893. 
Southern  Side-lights.    Boston,  1896. 

E.  A.  Johnson.— Light  Ahead  for  the  Negro.    132  pp.  New  York,  1904. 

F.  A.  Kellor.— The  Criminal  Negro.    Arena,  25:59-510;  36:26-521. 

Experimental  Sociology.  316  pp.    New  York,  1901. 

Fanny  Kemble.— A  journal  of  a  residence  on  a  Georgia  plantation.    New  York,  1833. 

J.  Bradford  Laws.— The  Negroes  of  Cinclare  Factory  and  Calumet  Plantation,  La. 
Bulletin  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  No.  38. 

George  Livermore. — An  historical  research  respecting  the  opinions  of  the  founders 
of  the  Republic  on  Negroes  as  slaves,  as  citizens  and  as  soldiers.   Boston,  1862. 

K.  Miller.— Review  of  Hoffman's  Race  Traits  and  Tendencies  of  the  Negro.  Pub- 
lications of  the  American  Negro  Academy,  No.  1. 

Montgomery  Conference  on  race  problems.    Proceedings,  L900. 

George  H.  Moore.— Notes  on  the  history  of  slavery  in  Massachusetts.    New  York,  1866. 


viii  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

Edward  Needles.— Ten  Years'  Progress,  or  a  Comparison  of  the  State  and  Condition 
of  the  Colored  People  in  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia  from  1837-1847. 
Philadelphia,  1850. 

Negro  Problems  and  the  Negro  Crime.    Harper's  Weekly,  47:1050-1.    June  20, 1903. 

New  Negro  Crime.    Harper's  Weekly,  48:120-1.    Jan.  23, 1904. 

New  Negro  Crime  considered:  Southern  View.  Harper's  Weekly,  47:1830.  Nov.  14, 1903. 

F.  L.  Olmstead.— The  Cotton  Kingdom.    New  York,  1861. 

Journey  in  the  Back  Country.    London,  18(51. 

A  journey  in  the  sea-board  slave  states.    New  York,  1856. 

A  journey  through  Texas.    New  York,  1857. 

T.  N.  Page.— The  Negro:  The  Southerner's  Problem.    316  pp.  New  York,  1904. 

Present  state  and  condition  of  the  free  people  of  color  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
and  the  adjoining  districts.    Philadelphia,  1838. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Comparative  Health,  Morality,  Length  of  Sen- 
tence, etc.,  of  White  and  Colored  Convicts.    Philadelphia,  1849. 

Wm.  Noel  Sainsbury,  editor.  Calendar  of  state  papers.  Colonial  series.  America 
and  the  West  Indies.    1574-1676.    London,  1860-1863. 

W.  S.  Scarborough. — Lawlessness  vs.  Lawlessness.    Arena,  24:478. 

Servitude  for  Debt  in  Georgia.— Outlook,  74:486.    June  27, 1903. 

Bernard  S.  Steiner.— Slavery  and  Connecticut.  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies. 
Baltimore,  1893.  ' 

G.  M.  Stroude.— A  sketch  of  the  laws  relating  to  slavery  in  the  several  states  of  the 

United  States  of  America.    Philadelphia,  1827. 

A.  Sledd.— Another  View.    Atlantic,  90:65-73.    July,  1902. 

Social  and  Industrial  Conditkm  of  Negroes  in  Massachusetts.  34th  Annual  Report 
Mass.  Bureau  of  Labor.    1904. 

A  Statistical  Inquiry  into  the  Condition  of  the  People  of  Color  of  the  City  and  Dis- 
tricts of  Philadelphia.     Philadelphia,  1849. 

E.  Tayleur.— Social  and  Moral  Decadence.    Outlook,  76:266-71.    Jan.  30, 1904. 

Walter  T.  Thorn.    The  Negroes  of  Litwalton,  Va.    Bulletin  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,  No.  37. 
The  Negro  of  Sandy  Springs,  Md.    Bulletin  United  States   Department  of  Labor, 
No.  32. 

Wm.  H.  Thomas— The  American  Negro.    New  York,  1901. 

United  States  Census,  1870. 

United  States  Census,  1880. 

United  States  Census,  1890. 

B.  T.  Washington.— Future  of  American  Negro.    Boston,  1899. 

S.  D.  Weld.— American  slavery  as  it  is:  testimony  of  thousands  of  witnesses.  New 
York,  1839. 

I.  B.  Wells-Barnett.— A  Red  Record.    1896. 

W.  F.  Willcox.— Negro  Criminality.    American  Journal  Social  Science,  37:78. 

Geo.  W.  Williams.— History  of  the  Negro  Race  in  America  from  1719-1880.  New  York, 
1883. 

G.  B.  Winton.— Negro  Criminal.    Harper's  Weekly,  47:1414.    August  29, 1903. 

M.  N.  Work.— Crime  Among  Negroes  in  Chicago.  American  Journal  Sociology, 
6:204. 

Carroll  D.  Wright— Slums  of  Great  Cities.  7th  Special  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Labor.    Washington,  1894. 

Richard  R.  Wright,  Jr.— The  Negroes  of  Xenia,  Ohio.  Bulletin  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,  No.  48. 


NEGRO  CRIME 


I.    The  Problem*  (by  Frank  B.  Sanborn). 

Crime  is  in  general  that  portion  of  human  depravity  and  passion 
which  is  regarded  and  punished  by  human  laws.  As  distinguished 
from  vice,  it  is  more  overt,  more  dreaded  by  the  community,  and  held 
in  greater  abhorrence ;  while  vice  is  more  insidious,  more  general,  and 
more  ruinous  to  the  individual,  though  often  held  in  little  reprehension 
by  the  community.  For  example,  the  vice  of  drunkenness  was  little 
censured  among  English-speaking  persons  a  century  ago  and  is  still 
rather  held  in  honor  in  some  parts  of  the  world;  while  the  crime  of 
parricide,  though  infinitely  less  pernicious  (because  it  could  never  be- 
come common)  has  ever  been  execrated  by  all.  But  since  vice  is  de- 
fined by  conscience  and  opinion,  and  crime  by  law  (which  is  the  tardy 
result  of  conscience  and  opinion) ,  nearly  every  vice  comes,  in  some 
time  or  place,  to  be  stigmatized  as  a  crime,  while  crimes  are  often  re- 
manded to  the  catalogue  of  vices,  and  sometimes  of  virtues.  For  a 
two-fold  reason,  then,  the  moralist  cannot  regard  crime  precisely  as  it 
is  esteemed  in  the  popular  judgment.  It  was  once  a  crime  where  I 
stand  to  teach  a  slave  to  read,  but  not  a  crime  to  buy  or  sell  that  slave. 
We  should  call  the  first  a  virtue  now;  while  the  second  might  be  held 
either  a  vice  or  a  crime,  or  even  a  virtue,  according  to  circumstances. 

Although  there  are  many  exceptions,  the  mass  of  what  we  term 
crime  is  the  direct  or  indirect  result  of  poverty  and  its  attendant  evils. 
Crime  from  other  causes,  however,  is  also  painfully  common.  With 
vice  the  case  is  different.  That  also  is  fostered  by  poverty  and  misery, 
but  it  is  no  less  stimulated  by  the  ease  and  opportunity  of  affluence. 
Between  vice  and  crime,  the  distance  is  usually  short;  but  pauperism 
is  not  seldom  an  intermediate  stage.  From  the  class  of  comfortable 
and  respectable  persons,  men  are  continually  lapsing,  through  vice,  into 
pauperism,  either  in  themselves  or  their  children,  and  from  pauperism 
into  crime.  Even  when  this  is  not  its  genealogy,  crime  may  ordinari- 
ly be  traced  to  one  of  the  five  general  causes  of  pauperism,  which  in 
1867  were  thus  assigned  by  me  in  a  report  to  the  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, of  which  state  I  was  then  an  official,  charged  with  the  in- 
vestigation of  such  subjects: — 

♦Remarks  to  the  Conference,  Tuesday  evening,  May  24, 1904. 


2  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

"The  causes  of  pauperism  are  (1)  Physical  inferiority  and  degrada- 
tion; (2)  Moral  perversity;  (3)  Mental  incapacity;  (4)  Accidents  and 
infirmities;  (5)  (and  often  the  most  powerful  of  all),  Unjust  and  un- 
wise laws  and  the  customs  of  society.  Such  are  the  general  causes, 
but  under  the  five  heads  come  innumerable  minor  and  proximate  cau- 
ses,— intemperance,  profligacy,  insanity,  indolence,  false  education,  ig- 
norance, superstition,  monopolies,  privilege,  indeed,  all  the  enemies  of 
human  advancement.  For  pauperism  is  one  of  the  sloughs  in  which 
the  progress  of  mankind  is  arrested." 

From  this  unhappy  slough,  most  of  the  crime  of  the  community 
emerges,  and  among  the  emissaries  of  crime  are  the  tramps  that  patrol 
the  land,  especially  in  wealthy  manufacturing  communities  like  New 
England.  They  find  in  great  cities  the  haunts  of  vice,  and  keep  up  a 
sort  of  circulation,  like  the  veins  and  arteries  of  the  human  body,  from 
one  part  of  the  land  to  another.  A  stationary  class  of  vicious  and  crimi- 
nal persons  in  the  cities  are  the  confederates  and  refuge  of  these  wan- 
dering criminals,  and  vice  versa, — a  city  criminal  taking  refuge  in  the 
moving  army  of  tramps,  and  thus  oftentimes  escaping  arrest. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  Negro  slavery,  while  preserving  the  com- 
munity from  an  excess  of  technical  pauperism,  naturally  furnished  the 
same  atmosphere  of  vice  and  crime,  when  the  strong  hand  of  slave  law 
was  removed  by  general  emancipation.  A  similar  result  followed  the 
emancipation  of  the  serfs  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  explains  the  out- 
breaks of  crime  and  disease  which  marked  the  14th  and  15th  centuries 
in  Europe. 

2.  Crime  and  Slavery.*  Mr.  Wines,  the  American  criminologist,  has 
said:  UA  modified  form  of  slavery  survives  wherever  prison  labor  is 
sold  to  private  persons  for  their  pecuniary  profit.1'  The  history  of 
crime  in  the  Southern  states  of  America  illustrates  this.  Two  systems 
of  controlling  human  labor  which  still  flourish  in  the  South  are  the  di- 
rect children  of  slavery.  These  are  the  crop-lien  system  and  the  con- 
vict-lease system.  The  crop-lien  system  is  an  arrangement  of  chattel 
mortgages,  so  fixed  that  the  housing,  labor,  kind  of  agriculture  and,  to 
some  extent,  the  personal  liberty  of  the  free  black  laborer  is  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  landowner  and  merchant.  It  is  absentee  landlordism 
and  the  u  company-store  "  systems  united.  The  convict-lease  system 
is  the  slavery  in  private  hands  of  persons  convicted  of  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors in  the  courts.  The  object  of  this  section  is  to  sketch  the 
rise  and  development  of  the  convict-lease  system,  and  the  efforts  to 
modify  and  abolish  it. 

Before  the  Civil  War  the  system  of  punishment  for  criminals  in  the 
South  was  practically  the  same  as  in1  the  North.  Except  in  a  few 
cities,  however,  crime  was  less  prevalent  than  in  the  North,  and 
the  system  of  slavery  naturally  modified  the  situation.  The  slaves 
could  become  criminals  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  only  in  exceptional 

♦First  printed  in  slightly  altered  form  in  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  Oct., 
1901. 


NEGRO   CRIME  3 

cases.  The  punishment  and  trial  of  nearly  all  ordinary  misdemeanors 
and  crimes  lay  in  the  hands  of  the  masters.  Consequently,  so  far  as 
the  state  was  concerned,  there  was  no  crime  of  any  consequence  among 
Negroes.  The  system  of  criminal  jurisprudence  had  to  do,  therefore, 
with  whites  almost  exclusively,  and  as  is  usual  in  a  land  of  scattered 
population  and  aristocratic  tendencies,  the  law  was  lenient  in  theory 
and  lax  in  execution. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  private  well-ordering  and  control  of  slaves 
called  for  careful  co-operation  among  masters.  The  fear  of  insurrection 
was  ever  before  the  South,  and  the  ominous  uprisings  of  Cato,  Gabriel, 
Vesey,  Turner,  and  Toussaint  made  this  fear  an  ever-present  night- 
mare. The  result  was  a  system  of  rural  police,  mounted  and  on  duty 
chiefly  at  night,  whose  work  it  was  to  stop  the  nocturnal  wandering 
and  meeting  of  slaves.  It  was  usually  an  effective  organization,  which 
terrorized  the  slaves,  and  to  which  all  white  men  belonged,  and  were 
liable  to  active  detailed  duty  at  regular  intervals. 

Upon  this  system  war  and  emancipation  struck  like  a  thunderbolt. 
Law  and  order  among  the  whites,  already  loosely  enforced,  became 
still  weaker  through  the  inevitable,  influence  of  conflict  and  social 
revolution.  The  freedman  was  especially  in  an  anomalous  situation. 
The  power  of  the  slave  police  supplemented  and  depended  upon  that 
of  the  private  masters.  When  the  masters'  power  was  broken  the 
patrol  was  easily  transmuted  into  a  lawless  and  illegal  mob  known  to 
history  as  the  Ku  Klux  Klan.  Then  came  the  first,  and  probably  the 
most  disastrous,  of  that  succession  of  political  expedients  by  which 
the  South  sought  to  deal  with  the  consequences  of  emancipation.  It 
will  always  be  a  nice  question  of  ethics  as  to  how  far  a  conquered  peo- 
ple can  be  expected  to  submit  to  the  dictates  of  a  victorious  foe.  Cer- 
tainly the  world  must  to  a  degree  sympathize  with  resistance  under 
such  circumstances.  The  mistake  of  the  South,  however,  was  to  adopt 
a  kind  of  resistance  which  in  the  long  run  weakened  her  moral  fiber, 
destroyed  respect  for  law  and  order,  and  enabled  gradually  her  worst 
elements  to  secure  an  unfortunate  ascendency.  The  South  believed 
in  slave  labor,  and  was  thoroughly  convinced  that  free  Negroes  would 
not  work  steadily  or  effectively.  Elaborate  and  ingenious  apprentice 
and  vagrancy  laws  were  therefore  passed,  designed  to  make  the  freed- 
men  and  their  children  work  for  their  former  masters  at  practically  no 
wages.  Justification  for  these  laws  was  found  in  the  inevitable  ten- 
dency of  many  of  the  ex-slaves  to  loaf  when  the  fear  of  the  lash  was 
taken  away.  The  new  laws,  however,  went  far  beyond  such  justifica- 
ion,  totally  ignoring  that  large  class  of  freedrnen  eager  to  work  and 
earn  property  of  their  own,  stopping  all  competition  between  employers, 
and  confiscating  the  labor  and  liberty  of  children.  In  fact,  the  new 
laws  of  this  period  recognized  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  and 
the  Thirteenth  Amendment  simply  as  abolishing  the  slave-trade. 

The  interference  of  Congress  in  the  plans  for  reconstruction  stopped 
the  full  carrying  out  of  these  schemes,  and  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
consolidated  and  sought  to  develop   the  various  plans  for  employing 


4  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

and  guiding  the  freedmen  already  adopted  in  different  places  under 
the  protection  of  the  Union  Army.  This  government  guardianship 
established  a  free  wage  system  of  labor  by  the  help  of  the  army, 
the  striving  of  the  best  of  the  blacks,  and  the  co-operation  of  some 
of  the  whites.  In  the  matter  of  adjusting  legal  relationships,  how- 
ever, the  Bureau  failed.  It  had,  to  be  sure,  Bureau  courts,  with 
one  representative  of  the  ex-master,  one  of  the  freedmen,  and  one  of 
the  Bureau  itself,  but  they  never  gained  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
munity. As  the  regular  state  courts  gradually  regained  power,  it 
was  necessary  for  them  to  fix  by  their  decisions  the  new  status  of 
the  freedmen.  It  was  perhaps  as  natural  as  it  was  unfortunate  that 
amid  this  chaos  the  courts  sought  to  do  by  judicial  decisions  what 
the  legislatures  had  formerly  sought  to  do  by  specific  law  —  namely, 
reduce  the  freedmen  to  serfdom.  As  a  result,  the  small  peccadilloes 
of  a  careless,  untrained  class  were  made  the  excuse  for  severe  sen- 
tences. The  courts  and  jails  became  filled  with  the  careless  and  ig- 
norant, with  those  who  sought  to  emphasize  their  new  found  free- 
dom, and  too  often  with  innocent  victims  of  oppression.  The  testi- 
mony of  a  Negro  counted  for  little  or  nothing  in  court,  while  the 
accusation  of  white  witnesses  was  usually  decisive.  The  result  of 
this  was  a  sudden  large  increase  in  the  apparent  criminal  popula- 
tion of  the  Southern  states— an  increase  so  Large  that  there  was  no 
way  for  the  state  to  house  it  or  watch  it  even  had  the  state  wished  to. 
And  the  state  did  not  wish  to.  Throughout  the  South  laws  were 
immediately  passed  authorizing  public  officials  to  lease  the  labor 
of  convicts  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  lessee  then  took  charge  of 
the  convicts — worked  them  as  he  wished  under  the  nominal  control 
of  the  state.     Thus  a  new  slavery  and  slave-trade  was  established. 

The  abuses  of  this  system  have  often  been  dwelt  upon.  It  had 
the  worst  aspects  of  slavery  without  any  of  its  redeeming  features. 
The  innocent,  the  guilty,  and  the  depraved  were  herded  together,  chil- 
dren and  adults,  men  and  women,  given  into  complete  control  of 
practically  irresponsible  men,  whose  sole  object  was  to  make  the  most 
money  possible.  The  innocent  were  made  had,  the  bad  worse;  wom- 
en were  outraged  and  children  tainted;  whipping  and  torture  were 
in  vogue,  and  the  death-rate  t'n>m  cruelty,  exposure,  and  overwork 
rose  to  large  percentages.  The  actual  hosses  over  such  leased  pris- 
oners were  usually  selected  from  the  lowest  classes  of  whites,  and 
the  camps  were  often  far  from  settlements  or  public  roads.  The 
prisoners  often  had  scarcely  any  clothing,  they  were  fed  on  a  scan- 
ty diet  of  corn  bread  and  fat  meat,  and  worked  twelve  or  more 
hours  a  day.  After  work  each  must  do  his  own  cooking.  There  was 
insufficient  shelter;  in  one  Georgia  cam]),  as  late  as  1895,  sixty-one 
men  slept  in  one  room,  seventeen  by  nineteen  feet,  and  seven  feet 
high.  Sanitary  conditions  were  wretched,  there  was  little  or  no 
medical  attendance,  and  almost  no  care  of  the  sick.  Women  were 
mingled  indiscriminately  with  the  men,  both  in  working  and  in 
sleeping,  and  dressed  often  in  men's  clothes.    A  young  girl  at  camp 


NEGKO  CRIME  5 

Hardmont,  Georgia,  in   1895,   was  repeatedly   outraged  by  several  of 
her  guards,  and  finally  died  in  childbirth  while  in  camp. 

Such  facts  illustrate  the  system  at  its  worst — as  it  used  to  exist  in 
nearly  every  Southern  state,  and  as  it  still  exists  in  parts  of  Georgia, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  other  states.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether 
the  effect  of  such  a  system  is  worse  on  the  whites  or  on  the  Negroes. 
So  far  as  the  whites  are  concerned,  the  convict-lease  system  lowered 
the  respect  for  courts,  increased  lawlessness,  and  put  the  states  into 
the  clutches  of  penitentiary  "rings."  The  courts  were  brought  into 
politics,  judgeships  became  elective  for  shorter  and  shorter  terms,  and 
there  grew  up  a  public  sentiment  which  would  not  consent  to  consider- 
ing the  desert  of  a  criminal  apart  from  his  color.  If  the  criminal  were 
white,  public  opinion  refused  to  permit  him  to  enter  the  chai'ngang 
save  in  the  most  extreme  cases.  The  result  is  that  even  to-day  it  is 
difficult  to  enforce  the  criminal  laws  in  the  South  against  whites.  On 
the  other  hand,  so  customary  had  it  become  to  convict  any  Negro  upon 
a  mere  accusation,  that  public  opinion  was  loathe  to  allow  a  fair  trial 
to  black  suspects,  and  was  too  often  tempted  to  take  the  law  into  its 
own  hands.  Finally  the  state  became,  a  dealer  in  crime,  profited  by  it 
so  as  to  derive  a  net  annual  income  from  her  prisoners.  The  lessees  of 
the  convicts  made  large  profits  also.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  remove  the  clutches  of  this  vicious  system  from 
the  state.  Even  as  late  as  1890,  the  Southern  states  were  the  only  sec- 
tion of  the  Union  where  the  income  from  prisons  and  reformatories  ex- 
ceeded the  expense.*  Moreover,  these  figures  do  not  include  the  coun- 
ty gangs  where  the  lease  system  is  to-day  most  prevalent  and  the  net 
income  largest. 

INCOME  AND  EXPENSE  OF  STATE  PRISONS  AND  REFORMATORIES,   I 


New   England 

Middle  States 

Border   States 

Southern   States-j-. 

Central  States 

Western  States. . . 


Earnings. 

Expense. 

$299,735 
71,252 
597,898 
938,406 
6544,161 
378,036 

$1,201,(129 
1,850,452 

962,411 

890, 
1,971,795 
1,572,316 

Profit. 


$17,971 


The  effect  of  the  convict-lease  system  on  the  Negroes  was  deplorable. 
First,  it  linked  crime  and  slavery  indissolubly  in  their  minds  as  simply 
forms  of  the  white  man's  oppression.  Punishment,  consequently,  lost 
the  most  effective  of  its  deterrent  effects,  and  the  criminal  gained  pity 
instead  of  disdain.  The  Negroes  lost  faith  in  the  integrity  of  courts  and 
the  fairness  of  juries.  Worse  than  all,  the  chaingangs  became  schools 
of  crime  which  hastened  the  appearance  of  the  confirmed  Negro  crimi- 
nal upon  the  scene.  That  some  crime  and  vagrancy  should  follow 
emancipation  was  inevitable.  A  nation  cannot  systematically  degrade 
labor  without  in  some  degree  debauching  the  laborer.     But  there  can 

♦Bulletin  No.  8,  Library  of  State  of  New  York.  All  figures  in  this  section  are  from 
this  source. 

-[-South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Arkansas. 


6  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

be  no  doubt  but  that  the  indiscriminate  method  by  which  Southern 
courts  dealt  with  the  freedmen  after  the  war  increased  crime  and  vaga- 
bondage to  an  enormous  extent.  There  are  no  reliable  statistics  to 
which  one  can  safely  appeal  to  measure  exactly  the  growth  of  crime 
among  the  emancipated  slaves.  About  seventy  per  cent,  of  all  pris- 
oners in  the  South  are  black;  this,  however,  is  in  part  explained  by  the 
fact  that  accused  Negroes  are  still  easily  convicted  and  get  long  sen- 
tences, while  whites  still  continue  to  escape  the  penalty  of  many  crimes 
even  among  themselves.  And  yet,  allowing  for  all  this,  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  there  has  arisen  in  the  South  since  the 
war  a  class  of  black  criminals,  loafers  and  ne'er-do-wells  who  are  a 
menace  to  their  fellows,  both  black  and  white. 

The  appearance  of  the  real  Negro  criminal  stirred  the  South  deeply. 
The  whites,  despite  their  long  use  of  the  criminal  court  for  putting 
Negroes  to  work,  were  used  to  little  more  than  petty  thieving  and  loaf- 
ing on  their  part,  and  not  to  crimes  of  boldness,  violence,  or  cunning. 
When,  after  periods  of  stress  or  financial  depression,  as  in  1892,  such 
crimes  increased  in  frequency,  the  wrath  of  a  people  unschooled  in  the 
modern  methods  of  dealing  with  crime  broke  all  bounds  and  reached 
strange  depths  of  barbaric  vengeance  and  torture.'  Such  acts,  instead 
of  drawing  the  best  opinion  of  these  states  and  of  the  nation  toward  a 
consideration  of  Negro  crime  and  criminals,  discouraged  and  alienated 
the  best  classes  of  Negroes,  horrified  the  civilized  world,  and  made  the 
best  white  Southerners  ashamed. 

Nevertheless,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  a  leaven  of  better  things  had 
been  working,  and  the  bad  effects  of  the  epidemic  of  lynching  quick- 
ened it.  The  great  difficulty  to  be  overcome  in  the  South  wras  the 
false  theory  of  work  and  of  punishment  of  wrong-doers  inherited  from 
slavery.  The  inevitable  result  of  a  slave  system  is  for  a  master  class 
to  consider  that  the  slave  exists  for  his  benefit  alone — that  the  slave 
has  no  rights  which  the  master  is  bound  to  respect.  Inevitably  this 
idea  persisted  after  emancipation.  The  black  workman  existed  for  the 
comfort  and  profit  of  white  people,,  and  the  interests  of  white  people 
were  the  only  ones  to  be  seriously  considered.  Consequently,  for  a 
lessee  to  work  convicts  for  his  profit  was  a  most  natural  thing.  Then, 
too,  these  convicts  were  to  be  punished,  and  the  slave  theory  of  pun- 
ishment was  pain  and  intimidation.  Given  these  ideas,  and  the  convict- 
lease  system  was  inevitable.  But  other  ideas  were  also  prevalent  in  the 
South;  there  were  in  slave  times  plantations  where  the  well-being  of 
the  slaves  was  considered,  and  where  punishment  meant  the  correc- 
tion of  the  fault  rather  than  brute  discomfort.  After  the  chaos  of  war 
and  reconstruction  passed,  there  came  from  the  better  conscience  of 
the  South  a  growing  demand  for  reform  in  the  treatment  of  crime. 
The  wrorst  horrors  of  the  convict-lease  system  were  attacked  persist- 
ently in  nearly  every  Southern  state.  Back  in  the  eighties,  George  W. 
Cable,  a  Southern  man,  published  a  strong  attack  on  the  system.  The 
following  decade  Governor  Atkinson,  of  Georgia,  instituted  a  search- 
ing investigation,  which  startled  the  state  by  its  revelation  of  existing 


NEGRO   CRIME  7 

conditions.  Still  more  recently  Florida,  Arkansas  and  other  states 
have  had  reports  and  agitation  for  reform.  The  result  has  been 
marked  improvement  in  conditions  during  the  last  decade.  This  is 
shown  in  part  by  the  statistics  of  1895;  in  that  year  the  prisons  and  re- 
formatories of  the  far  South  cost  the  states  $204,483  more  than  they 
earned,  while  before  this  they  had  nearly  always  yielded  an  income. 
This  is  still  the  smallest  expenditure  of  any  section,  and  looks  strange- 
ly small  beside  New  England's  $1,190,564.  At  the  same  time,  a  move- 
ment in  the  right  direction  is  clear.  The  laws  are  being  framed  more 
and  more  so  as  to  prevent  the  placing  of  convicts  altogether  in  private 
control.  They  are  not,  to  be  sure,  always  enforced,  Georgia  having 
still  several  hundreds  of  convicts  so  controlled.  In  nearly  all  the  Gulf 
states  the  convict-lease  system  still  has  a  strong  hold,  still  debauches 
public  sentiment  and  breeds  criminals. 

The  next  step  after  the  lease  system  was  to  put  the  prisoners  under 
regular  state  inspection,  but  to  lease  their  labor  to  contractors,  or  to 
employ  it  in  some  remunerative  labor  for  the  state.  It  is  this  stage 
that  the  South  is  slowly  reaching  to-day,  so  far  as  the  criminals  are 
concerned  who  are  dealt  with  directly 'by  the  states.  Those  whom  the 
state  still  unfortunately  leaves  in  the  hands  of  county  officials  are  us- 
ually leased  to  irresponsible  parties.  Without  doubt,  work,  and  work 
worth  the  doing — i.  e.,  profitable  work — is  best  for  the  prisoners.  Yet 
there  lurks  in  this  system  a  dangerous  temptation.  The  correct  theory 
is  that  the  work  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  criminal — for  his  correction,  if 
possible.  At  the  same  time,  his  work  should  not  be  allowed  to  come 
into  unfair  competition  with  that  of  honest  laborers,  and  it  should 
never  be  an  object  of  traffic  for  pure  financial  gain.  Whenever  the 
profit  derived  from  the  work  becomes  the  object  of  employing  prison- 
ers, then  evil  must  result.  In  the  South  to-day  it  is  natural  that  in 
the  slow  turning  from  the  totally  indefensible  private  lease  system, 
some  of  its  wrong  ideas  should  persist.  Prominent  among  these  per- 
sisting ideas  is  this:  that  the  most  successful  dealing  with  criminals 
is  that  which  costs  the  state  least  in  actual  outlay.  This  idea  still 
dominates  most  of  the  Southern  states.  Georgia  spent  $2.38  per  capita 
on  her  2,938  prisoners  in  1890,  while  Massachusetts  spent  $62.96  per  cap- 
ita on  her  5,227  prisoners.  Moreover,  by  selling  the  labor  of  her  pris- 
oners to  the  highest  bidders,  Georgia  not  only  got  all  her  money  back, 
but  made  a  total  clear  profit  of  $6.12  on  each  prisoner.  Massachusetts 
spent  about  $100,000  more  than  was  returned  to  her  by  prisoners1  labor. 
Now  it  is  extremely  difficult,  under  such  circumstances,  to  prove  to  a 
state  that  Georgia  is  making  a  worse  business  investment  than  Massa- 
chusetts. It  will  take  another  generation  to  prove  to  the  South  that 
an  apparently  profitable  traffic  in  crime  is  very  dangerous  business  for 
a  state ;  that  prevention  of  crime  and  the  reformation  of  criminals  is  the 
one  legitimate  object  of  all  dealing  with  depraved  natures,  and  that 
apparent  profit  arising  from  other  methods  is  in  the  end  worse  than 
dead  loss.  Bad  public  schools  and  profit  from  crime  explain  much  of 
the  Southern  social  problem. 


8  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

Moreover,  in  the  desire  to  make  the  labor  of  criminals  pay,  little 
heed  is  taken  of  the  competition  of  convict  and  free  laborers,  unless 
the  free  laborers  are  white  and  have  a  vote.  Black  laborers  are  con- 
tinually displaced  in  such  industries  as  brick-making,  mining,  road- 
building,  grading,  quarrying,  and  the  like,  by  convicts  hired  at  $3,  or 
thereabouts,  a  month. 

The  second  mischievous  idea  that  survives  from  slavery  and  the 
convict-lease  system  is  the  lack  of  all  intelligent  discrimination  in 
dealing  with  prisoners.  The  most  conspicuous  and  fatal  example  of 
this  is  the  indiscriminate  herding  of  juvenile  and  adult  criminals.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  such  methods  manufacture  criminals  more 
quickly  than  all  other  methods  can  reform  them.  In  1890,  of  all  the 
Southern  states,  only  Texas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  and 
West  Virginia  made  any  state  appropriations  tor  juvenile  reforma- 
tories. In  1895  Delaware  was  added  to  these,  but  Kentucky  was 
missing.     We  have,  therefore,  expended  for  juvenile  reformatories: 

1895, 

\.  w   England    |  |864, 

Boi  174,781 

athern   -  in.  i<>s    .  .  10 

And  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  the  South  had  in  L890  ever  four 
thousand  p  ers  under  twenty  years  o  [n  some  of  the  Southern 

states — notably,  Virginia — thei  private  associations  for  juvenile 

rni.  acting  in  co-operation   with   th<  'rinse  have,  in  some 

recently  rec  lived  state  aid.     in  other  states,  like  Georgia,  there 
is  permissive  ition  for  the  establishment  of  Local  reformatories. 

Little  1  nit.'.!  ae  pom  this  Legislation,  but  it  La  promising. 

This  section   hat  it    to  trace   roughly   tin-  attitude  of  the  South 

toward  crime.    There  Ls  in  thai  attitude  much  to  condemn,  but  also 
something  to  praise.    The  tendencies  are  to-d  a;  inly  in  the  right 

direction,  but  there  is  a  Long  battle  to  be  fought  with  prejudice  and 
inertia  before  the  South  will  realize  that  a  black  criminal  is  a  human 
being,  to  be  punished  firmly  hut  humanely,  with  the  sole  object  of 
making  him  a  Bafe  member  ol  Bociety,  and  that  a  white  criminal  at 
-  a  menace  ami  a  dai  difficulty  to-day  in  the 

way  of  [•.•form  is  this  rac<  Ion.    The  movement  for  juvenile  re- 

formatories In  G  i  would  have  one  years  ago,  in  all 

probability,  had  not  the  argument  been  used:  it  Ls  chiefly  forthebene- 
1'iitil  the  public  opinion  of  the  ruling  masses  of  the 
South  c  that  the  prevention  of  crime  among  N  -  is  just  as 

try.  just  as  profitable,  for  tie-  whites  themselves,  as  prevention 
among  whites,  all  true  !  nent  in  courts  and  prisons  will  he  binder- 

Above  all,  we  must  remember  that  crime  is  not  normal ;  thai  the 
appearance  of  crime  among  Southern  N<  symptom  of  wrong 

:al  conditions — of  a  of  life  »r  than  a  Large  part  of  the 

omunity    ran    hear.     The    Negro    Ls    not    naturally    criminal;    he    is 
usually  patient  ami  Law-abiding.      If  slavery,  the  convict-lease  system, 
traffic  in  criminal  Lab  lack   of  juvenile   reformatories,  to- 


NEGRO   CRIME  9 

gether  with  the  unfortunate  discrimination  and  prejudice  in  other 
walks  of  life,  have  led  to  that  sort  of  social  protest  and  revolt  which 
we  call  crime,  then  we  must  look  for  remedy  in  the  sane  reform  of 
these  wrong  social  conditions,  and  not  in  intimidation,  savagery,  or 
the  legalized  slavery  of  men. 

3.  Crime  and  the  Census.  Before  a  remedy  of  any  kind  can  be 
applied  to  crime,  we  must  know  something  of  the  extent  of  the 
evil.  How  far  is  crime  prevalent  among  Negroes,  and  what  sorts  of 
crime  are  most  common?  The  extreme  Southern  view  of  the  situation 
is  illustrated  by  the  statement  of  Governor  James  K.  Vardr.man  of 
Mississippi:* 

1.  The  Negro  element  is  the  most  criminal  in  our  population. 

2.  The  Negro  is  much  more  criminal  as  a  free  man  than  he  was  as  a  slave. 

:{.  The  Negro  is  increasing  in  criminality  with  fearful  rapidity,  being  one  third 
more  criminal  in  1890  than  1880. 

4.  The  Negroes  who  can  read  and  write  are  more  criminal  than  the  illiterate, 
which  is  true  of  no  other  element  of  our  population. 

5.  The  Negro  is  nearly  three  times  as  criminal  in  the  Northeast,  where  he  has 
not  been  a  slave  for  a  hundred  years,  and  three  and  a  half  times  as  criminal  in  the 
Northwest,  where  he  has  never  been  a  slave,  as  in  the  South,  where  he  was  a 
slave  until  ISC)."). 

6.  The  Negro  is  three  times  as  criminal  as  a  native  white,  and  once  and  a  half 
as  criminal  as  the  foreign  white,  consisting  in  many  cases  of  the  scum  of  Europe. 

7.  More  than  seven-tent  lis  of  the  Negro  criminals  are  under  thirty  years  of  age. 

The  conservative  Northern  view  may  bo  represented  by  the  words 
of  Professor  Walter  P.  Willcbx  in  answer  to  the  above  assertions  :t 

''1.  The  Negro  element  is  the  most  criminal  in  our  population.11  The  main  evidence, 
almost  the  only  evidence,  regarding  the  criminality  of  different  classes  is  derived 
from  census  statistics.  The  most  recent  figures  on  the  subject  are  those  of  1890, 
an  inquiry  into  the  subject  by  the  Census  Office  for  the  year  1904  being  now  in 
progress.  The  following  figures  show  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  United 
States  in  1890  of  the  specified  race  to  each  10,000  total  population  of  that  race : 

Race 

White K» 

Negro 

Mongolian  38 

Indian , 55 

The  preceding  figures  indicate  that  the  criminality  of  the  Negro  race  is  much 
higher  than  that  of  the  whites,  but  lower  than  that  of  the  Indians  and  Mongoli- 
ans. The  Chinese  and  Japanese  in  the  United  States  are  nearly  all  men,  from 
which  class  prisoners  mainly  come.  For  this  reason  such  a  comparison  between 
Negroes  and  Mongolians  is  misleading,  and  probably  more  accurate  comparisons 
would  show  the  criminality  of  the  Negroes  to  be  higher  than  that  of  the  Mongo- 
lians. But  I  see  no  reason  for  doubting  the  obvious  inference  from  the  figures 
that  it  is  lower  than  that  of  the  Indians,  and  therefore  I  do  not  believe  the  first 
conclusion. 

"2.  The  Negro  is  much  more  criminal  as  a  free  man  than  he  was  as  a  slave.11 
Crimes  committed  by  the  Negro  under  the  slavery  system  were  usually  punished 

•Leslie's  Weekly,  Feb.  4, 1904.       +Ibid,  Feb.  11, 1904. 


10  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

by  the  master  without  recourse  to  the  courts.  Now  there  is  no  master,  and  the 
courts  must  punish  the  Negro  criminal,  if  he  is  not  in  most  cases  to  go  free. 
Court  records,  if  tabulated  in  statistical  form,  as  they  are  not,  would  doubtless 
show  a  greater  amount  of  recorded  crime.  But  I  do  not  think  such  statistics 
would  prove  the  conclusion  that  he  is  by  nature  or  by  habit  more  criminal  than 
as  a  slave,  nor  do  I  see  how  it  can  be  established  by  other  evidence  than  that  de- 
rived from  personal  opinion.  My  experience  does  not  warrant  me  in  drawing  any 
conclusion  on  this  point. 

"3.  The  Negro  is  increasing  in  criminality  with  fearful  rapidity,  being  one-third 
more  criminal  in  1890  than  in  1880."  The  evidence  on  this  point  also  comes  from 
the  census.  In  1880  there  were  twenty-five  Negro,  Indian  and  Mongolian  prison- 
ers to  every  10,000  persons  of  those  races.  In  1890  there  were  thirty-three.  The 
Negroes  are  many  times  as  numerous  as  the  other  races  combined,  and  therefore 
the  foregoing  figures  are  substantially  true  for  the  Negroes  alone.  How  far  this 
increase  is  due  to  a  change  in  the  characteristics  of  the  race,  and  how  far  to  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  crimes  punished  by  the  law,  or  to  the  efficacy  of  the  ju- 
dicial system  in  ferreting  out  and  punishing  crime,  it  seems  impossible  to  say.  I 
believe  there  has  been  an  increase  in  Negro  criminality,  but  that  the  foregoing 
figures  do  not  afford  an  accurate  measure  of  its  amount. 

"4.  The  Negroes  who  can  read  and  write  are  more  criminal  than  the  illiterate,  which 
is  true  of  no  other  element  of  our  population."  In  1890,  among  every  10,000  Negroes  at 
least  ten  years  of  age  who  could  read  and  write,  there  w*ere  forty-one  prisoners, 
while  among  every  10,000  illiterate  Negroes  of  the  same  ages  there  were  forty-nine 
prisoners.  The  conclusion  is  thus  shown  to  be  incorrect.  For  reasons  which  I  have 
not  space  here  to  state,  I  believe  that  the  true  difference  in  favor  of  the  educated 
Negroes  is  greater  than  the  foregoing  figures  indicate. 

"5.  The  Negro  is  nearly  three  times  as  criminal  in  the  Northeast,  where  he  has  not 
been  a  slave  for  a  hundred  years,  and  three  and  a  half  times  as  criminal  in  the  North- 
west, where  he  has  never  been  a  slave,  as  in  the  South,  where  he  was  a  slave  until  1865." 
The  evidence  for  this  statement  is  also  derived  from  the  census.  In  the  Southern 
States  in  1890  there  were  twenty-nine  Negro  prisoners  to  every  10,000  Negroes,  in 
the  Northeast  there  were  seventy-five,  and  in  the  far  Western  States  ninety-five. 
Governor  Vardaman  explains  this  difference  as  a  lingering  effect  of  slavery.  It 
certainly  was  not  due  to  that.  The  proof  is  found  in  the  fact  that  similar  differ- 
ences exist  among  whites.  In  his  State  of  Mississippi,  for  example,  there  were 
fourteen  Negro  prisoners  to  10,000  Negroes,  and  in  my  State  of  New  York  there 
were  100,  but  in  Mississippi  there  were  two  white  prisoners  to  every  10,000  whites, 
and  in  New  York  there  were  eighteen.  Are  we  to  explain  the  low  percentage  of 
criminals  among  Southern  whites  as  also  a  lingering  effect  of  Negro  slavery? 
No;  the  fact  is  that  crime  and  criminals  are  more  prevalent  in  closely  settled 
communities,  where  any  sort  of  disorder  is  more  likely  to  lead  directly  to  the  pris- 
on. Negro  criminals  are  more  numerous  at  the  North  and  the  West,  partly  be- 
cause there  are  fewer  Negro  children  and  more  adult  men  in  those  sections,  but 
mainly  because  Negroes  at  the  North  live  especially  in  the  cities,  while  at  the 
South  they  live  mainly  in  the  country. 

"6.  The  Negro  is  three  times  as  criminal  as  a  native  white,  and  once  and  a  half  as 
criminal  as  the  foreign  white,  consisting  in  many  cases  of  the  scum  of  Europe.v  Negro 
criminality  is  undoubtedly  far  greater  than  white,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that 
the  foregoing  statement  is  substantially,  though  not  numerically,  correct.  Per- 
haps a  fairer  comparison  than  that  between  all  Negroes  and  all  foreign-born 
whites  would  be  between  the  Negroes  and  the  foreign-born  living  in  the  North. 
In  the  North  Atlantic  division,  where  recent  immigrants  are  most  numerous,  the 
Negro  prisoners  relative  to  population  are  three  times  as  numerous  as  foreign-born 


NEGRO  CRIME 


11 


white  prisoners,  and  in  the  North  Central  division  they  are  more  than  six  times 
as  numerous. 

"7.  More  than  seven-tenths  of  the  Negro  criminals  are  under  thirty  years  of  age.11 
This  statement  is  substantially  correct.  But  it  should  be  noticed  that  more  than 
half  of  the  white  prisoners  are  also  under  thirty  years  of  age,  and  that  the  average 
length  of  life  of  the  Negroes  is  several  years  less  than  that  of  the  whites,  and 
therefore  the  proportion  of  them  in  the  higher  ages  is  small.  The  figures,  howev- 
er, do  indicate  a  disproportionate  and  probably  an  increasing  amount  of  juvenile 
crime  among  the  Negroes. 

The  evidence  relied  upon  in  judging  crime  among  Negroes  is  chiefly 
the  United  States  Census  Reports  of  1870,  1880  and  1890.  These  reports 
are  briefly  summarized  in  the  following  pages: 


White 

1870 

1880 

1890 

Prisoners 

24,845 
740 

41,861 
964 

57,310 

Ratio  per  million 

1,042 

Colored  (Negro,  Indian,  etc.) 

Prisoners 

Ratio  per  million 

(  Negroes 
Ratio  per  million  <  Chinese 

(  Indian.. 


8,056 
1,621 


16,748 
2,480 


25,019 
3,275 
3,250 
3,835 
5,476 


How  shall  these  figures  be  interpreted  ?  First,  it  is  certain  that  they 
cannot  be  given  their  full  value  because  of  the  method  of  collection. 
The  census  of  1890  says:* 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  prisoners  during  the  last  40  years  has  been  more 
apparent  than  real,  owing  to  the  very  imperfect  enumeration  of  the  prison  popu- 
lation prior  to  1880.  Whatever  it  has  been,  it  is  not  what  it  might  be  supposed  to 
be,  if  we  had  no  other  means  of  judging  of  it  than  by  the  figures  contained  in  the 
census  volumes. 

The  census  method  of  measuring  crime  by  counting  the  prison  pop- 
ulation on  a  certain  day  every  ten  years  has  been  shown  by  Dr.  Roland 
P.  Falkner  to  lead  to  unwarranted  conclusions.     He  says:  f 

If  the  amount  of  crime  means  the  ratio  between  the  offenses  committed  in  a 
given  year  and  the  population  at  that  time,  the  census  volume  fails  to  give  us  a 
correct  idea  of  crime  in  the  United  States : 

1.  Because  it  furnishes  no  basis  for  a  calculation  of  the  increase  of  crime. 

2.  Because  in  depicting  the  geographical  distribution  of  crime,  it  favors  one 
locality  at  the  expense  of  another. 

3.  Because  it  exaggerates  the  number  of  the  male  sex  in  the  aggregate  of  crime. 

4.  Because  it  assigns  to  the  Negroes  a  larger,  and  to  the  foreign-born  white  a 
smaller,  share  in  the  total  of  crime  than  belongs  to  each. 

5.  Because  it  distorts  the  picture  of  the  relative  frequency  of  different  classes 
of  crimes. 

Mr.  Falkner  says  further :  t 


*llth  Census,  Crime,  etc.,  Pt.  I,  p.  126.       +C  rime  and  the  Census,  p.  66.        Jlbid,  p.  62. 


12 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


The  census  can  here  do  justice  to  the  different  elements  only  on  the  supposi- 
tion of  a  uniform  distribution  of  sentences.  If  one  class  receive  longer  sentences 
than  another,  or  commit  classes  of  crimes  for  which  longer  sentences  are  given, 
it  will  appear  unduly  magnified  in  the  census  report.  The  following  table 
summarizes  the  facts  of  the  census  report,  regarding  sentences  where  a  definite 
term  has  been  imposed  by  the  courts : 

Sentences  of  the  Prison  Population  in  1890,  by  Elements  of  the  Population 


GROUPS 


Average 

sentence, 

years 


Prisoners 
with  clef, 
sentences 


Sentences  of 

under  one 

year 


Per  cent  of 

sentences 

under  1  year 


Total 

Total  white 

Total  native  white. . . 
Foreign-born  white. 
Negroes 


3.88 
3.46 
3.67 

2.97 

4.84 


65,653 

44,856 
32,076 
12,434 
18,322 


18,538 

14,688 

9,141 

5,425 

3,737 


29.13 
32.74 
28.50 
43.63 
20.39 


The  variation  in  average  sentences  is  quite  considerable.  The  short  term  of- 
fenders really  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  total  commitments  of  a  year,  but  as  we 
have  seen  do  not  exercise  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  census  totals.  If  the 
short  term  sentences  fall  below  the  average,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Negroes,  that  el- 
ement receives  undue  prominence  in  the  census.  If  they  rise  above  the  average, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  foreign-born,  that  element  has  not  its  appropriate  quota  in 
the  census  figures. 

From  the  sentences  and  prisoners  as  reported  in  the  census  of  1890, 
Mr.  Falkner  then  proceeds  to  calculate  the  probable  number  of  com- 
mitments and  makes  the  following  table:  * 

Prison  Population  in  1890  and  Estimate  of  Commitments,  by  Elements  of  the  Population 


GROUPS 

Prisoners  Sentenced  or  Com- 
mitted. 

Percentages 

1  year  and 
over 

Under  1 
year 

Total 

1  year  and 
over 

Under  1 
year 

Total 

Sentenced 

Native  white 

22,935 

7,009 

14,585 

9,141 
5,425 
3,737 

32,076 
12,434 
18,322 

50.84 
15.51 
32.55 

49.31 
29.26 
20.16 

50.41 

Foreign-horn  white  . . 

Negroes 

19.53 

28.78 

Committed 

Native  white 

Foreign-born  white  . . 

Negroes 

9,283 
2,890 
5,445 

96,470 
59,374 
35,036 

105,753 
62,264 
40,181 

52.32 
16.29 
30.69 

49.76 
30.61 
18.06 

49.96 
29.42 
19.12 

If  we  compare  the  percentages  for  the  prison  population,  we  see  that  the  long 
sentences  have  the  greatest  weight  in  determining  the  average  for  all.  In  the 
probable  commitments  the  contrary  is  the  case.  Our  calculations  do  not  affect 
the  proportion  of  native  white,  but  they  reverse  the  positions  of  the  Negro  and 
the  foreign-born  white. 

Thus  this  estimate  reduces  the  responsibility  of  the  Negro  for  crime 
in  this  land  from  30%  to  19%. 


♦Crime  and  the  Census,  p.  63. 


NEGRO  CRIME  13 

4.  Extent  of  Negro  Crime.  It  seems  fair  to  conclude  that  the  Ne- 
groes of  the  United  States,  forming  about  one-eighth  of  the  population, 
were  responsible  in  1890  for  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  crime. 

Detailed  figures  from  the  censuses  are  as  follows: 

Colored*  Prisoners,  1870 

United  States 8,056 

North  Atlantic  States 1,160 

South  "  "       3,391 

North  Central 833 

South  "      2,610 

Western 32 

Colored*  Prisoners,  1880 


United  States  

North  Atlantic  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division  . 
South  Central  Division  . 
Western  Division 


Colored 


16,748 


1,403 
5,579 
1,708 
7,394 
664 


Colored, 
male 


15,500 


1,265 
5,057 
1,580 
6,938 
660 


Colored, 
female 


1,248 


138 
522 
128 
456 
4 


Offenses  Charged 


All,  Offenses 

Offenses  against  government 

Offenses  against  society 

Offenses  against  person 

Offenses  against  property 

Offenses  on  high  seas 

Miscellaneous 

Not  stated 


Colored 


16,562 


117 

1,072 

3,918 

9,510 

2 

315 
1,610 


Colored, 
male 


15,381 


116 

809 

3,691 

9,027 


259 
1,476 


Colored, 
female 


1,181 


1 
263 

227 
483 


56 
140 


Prisoners  by  Sex  and  Geographical  Divisions 


1890 

Males 

Females 

Total 

United  States 

North  Atlantic 

South  Atlantic 

North  Central 

22,305 

1,793 
8,113 

2,528 

9,625 

246 

1,972 

244 
750 
210 
756 
12 

24,277 

2,037 

8,863 
2,738 

South  Central 

Western 

10,381 

258 

By  Prisons 


Prisons 

In  state  prisons  and  penitentiaries 

In  county  jails 

In  city  prisons 

In  workhouses  and  houses  of  correction 

Leased  out  ( by  counties) 

In  military  and  naval  prisons 

In  hospitals  and  asylums  for  the  insane 

Total 


Percentages 


100.00  % 


*  Includes  Indians  and  Chinese. 


14 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

Ratios  of  Prisoners  to  1,000,000  of  Negro  Population 

No.  Atlantic  Div 7,547 

So.  "  "    2,716 

No.  Central      "    0,851 

So.  "  "    2,984 

Western  "    9,527 

United  States 3,250 


Out  of  every  10,000  Negro  prisoners : 


5 

are 

under 

10     years  of  age 

1,822 

(< 

10-19 

a                  a 

5,078 

« 

20-29 

it                  it 

1,875 

u 

30-39 

a                  it 

741 

it 

40-49 

a                  a 

327 

a 

50-59 

U                      it 

117 

a 

60-69 

it                      u 

28 

a 

70-79 

((                 (( 

5 

it 

80-89 

((                   u 

2 

M 

90-99 

it                  a 

Out  of  every  10,000  Negroes : 

15-19  years  of  age 44  are  prisoners,  and  11*  in  reformatories 


20-24 

25-29 

30-34 

35-44 

45-54 

55-64 

65  and 

over 


.98 
.88 
.63 
.41 
.25 
17 


The  average  age  of  Negro  prisoners  is : 

Male 27.73  years 

Female 26.08     " 

Total 27.60      " 


Negroes  were  incarcerated  for  the  following  offenses: 


Kind  of  Offenses 


Total 

1.  Against  the  government 

2.  Against  society,   (i.  e.,  perjury,  adultery,  gam- 

bling, drunkenness,  disorder,  concealed  weap- 
ons, vagrancy,  etc.) 

3.  Against  the  person,  (murder,  rape,  assaults,  etc.) . 

4.  Against  property 

5.  Miscellaneous,    (double    crimes,  infractions   of 

municipal  ordinances,  witnesses,  unknown) 


Both  sexes 


100.00  % 
0.70  % 

16.54  % 
25.95  % 
46.65  % 

10.16  % 


Males 


100.00  % 
0.77  % 

14.13  % 
26.72  % 
48.28  % 

10.10  % 


Females 


100.00  % 
0.08  % 

40.64  % 
18.22  % 
30.33  % 

10.73  % 


NEGRO   CRIME 
The  actual  number  of  offenses  for  whites  and  Negroes  is : 


15 


OFFENSES 
All  Offenses  

1.  Against  the  government 

2.  Against  society 

Perjury  and  false  swearing. . 

Incest 

Adultery 

Fornication,  etc 

Gambling 

Public  intoxication 

Disorderly  conduct 

Carrying  concealed  weapons 
Vagrancy  

3.  Against  the  person 

Homicide 

Rape 

4.  Against  property 

Burglary 

Larceny 

5.  Miscellaneous 


Whites 


Negroes 


Indians 


1,000,000 

28,721 

269,796 
2,949 
3,210 
4,886 

14,849 
1,152 

99,529 

56,273 
2,879 

43,273 

179,148 
77,212 
14,203 

451,858 
120,015 
241,877 

70,407 


1,000,000 

7,332 

134,283 

6,961 

1,565 

4,407 

6,591 

10,545 

16,353 

23,767 

14,293 

14,747 

277,629 

112,823 

23,438 

476,954 
114,307 

288,668 

103,802 


1,000,000 

40,373 

279,503 
9,317 


9,317 
3,105 


52,795 
9,317 


15,528 

388,199 

285,714 
24,845 

273,292 

40.373 

214,286 

18,633 


Average  Ages  of  Prisoners  by  Groups  of  Crimes 


All  offenses 

Offenses  against  government 

Offenses  against  society 

Offenses  against  person 

Offenses  against  property 

Offenses  on  high  seas 

Miscellaneous 


Aggregate 
number 


30.65 

31.44 
33.87 
32.38 

28.35 
38.00 
30.02 


Negroes 


27.60 

30.76 
27.99 
29.01 
26.60 


7.84 


Crime 

and  Illiteracy 

NEGROES 

Percentage  of  total 
population 

Percentage  of  prison 
population. 

Total 

Males 

Females 

Total 

Males 

Females 

Read  and  write 

42.91 

57.09 

6.81 

50.28 

45.63 

54.37 

6.73 

47.64 

40.23 

59.77 

6.87 

52.90 

38.88 

61.12 

6.99 

54.13 

39.11 

60.89 

6.58 

54.31 

36.26 

Illiterate* 

63.74 

Read  only : 

11.71 

Neither  read  nor  write 

52.03 

From  the  figures  of  1890  it  seems  fair  to  conclude: 

1.  That  eight-tenths  of  the  Negro  prisoners  are  in  the  South  where 
nine-tenths  of  the  Negroes  dwell.  This  is  further  emphasized  by  the 
fact  that  Negroes  in  the  North  furnish  60  to  75  prisoners  for  every  10,000 
-of  population,  while  those  in  the  South  furnish  about  30.  This  discrep- 
ancy is  largely  explained  by  the  difference  in  urban  and  rural  popula- 
tions, and  the  migration  northward. 


♦According  to  the  usage  of  the  census  of  1890  the  term  "illiterate  "  includes  both 
those  who  can  read  and  not  write  and  those  who  neither  read  nor  write.    Of. 


16  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

2.  While  60%  of  the  prisoners  are  in  State  Prisons  and  Penitentia- 
ries, this  excess  of  dangerous  criminals  is  apparent  and  not  real  and  is 
due  to  the  census  method  of  computing  crime. 

3.  Half  of  the  Negro  prisoners  are  between  the  ages  of  20  and  30 
years,  a  fifth,  10-19  years,  and  another  fifth,  30  40  years.  This  shows 
a  lower  criminal  age  than  among  whites. 

4.  Nearly  half  of  the  Negro  prisoners  are  confined  for  crimes  against 
property.  If  commitments  were  tabulated,  undoubtedly  pilfering 
would  be  found  to  be  pre-eminently  the  Negro  crime.  This  is  due  to 
imperfect  ideas  of  property  ownership  inseparable  from  a  system  of 
slavery. 

5.  One-fourth  of  the  Negro  prisoners  are  confined  for  crimes  against 
the  person.  This  consists  of  fighting  and  quarreling,  ending  at  times 
in  homicide,  and  also  the  crime  of  rape.  Fighting  is  to  be  expected  of 
ignorant  people  and  people  living  under  unsettled  conditions.  Of 
1,392  persons  confined  for  rape  in  1890,  578  were  Negroes.  These  figures 
exaggerate  the  apparent  guilt  of  Negroes  because  the  Negroes  received 
an  average  sentence  of  14.04  years  for  rape  while  whites  received  an 
average  sentence  of  12.72  years,  and  probably  a  still  larger  dispropor- 
tion in  life  sentences  existed.  Negroes  too  are  more  easily  convicted 
of  tiiis  crime  to-day,  because  of  public  opinion.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  considerations  there  is  no  doubt  of  a  large  prevalence  of  sexual 
crime  among  Negroes.  This  is  due  to  the  sexual  immorality  of  slavery, 
the  present  defenselessness  of  a  proscribed  caste,  and  the  excesses  of 
the  undeveloped  clashes  among  Negroes. 

6.  One-sixth   of  the  criminals   in  jail  were    charged  with   crimes 
inst  society — gambling,  drunkenness,  adultery,  etc. 

7.  The  age  statistics  show  that  among  both  whites  and  blacks  the 
yc.inger  criminals  steal;  among  Negroes,  crimes  against  society  and 
the  person  claim  the  next  older  set,  while  crimes  against  the  govern- 
ment and  the  person  come  next  among  whites. 

8.  The  illiterate  Negroes  furnish  more  of  the  criminals  than  those 
who  read  and  write.  The  difference  in  education  between  the  great 
number  who  can  just  barely  read  and  write  and  the  wholly  illiterate  is 
not  great,  so  that  this  does  nol  really  illustrate  the  full  degree  in  which 
ignorance  causes  Negro  crime.  There  has  been  so  much  dispute  and 
misapprehension  on  this  point  that  additional  testimony  is  valuable. 
Mr.  Clarence  Poe  says:* 

But  do  the  general,  nation-wide  results  indicate  that  education  is  helpful  ?  It 
has  often  been  claimed  that  they  do  not.  And  in  proof  we  have  the  oft  repeated 
charge  that  the  percentage  of  literacy  amonu:  Negro  criminals  in  1890  was  higher 
than  that  for  the  total  Negro  population — in  other  words,  that  the  literate  Negroes 
furnish  a  larger  proportion  of  prisoners  than  the  illiterate.  This  statement  was 
made  in  an  address  before  the  National  Prison  Association  in  1897.  It  was  print- 
ed in  one  of  our  foremost  magazines,  the  North  American  Review,  in  June,  1900. 
It   was  repeated   by  a  governor  of  (Georgia  in  a  public  message.    A  Mississippi 

•Clarence  H.  Poe,  a  Southern  white  man,  edltorof  the  Raleigh  J'roijrcssive  Farmer, 
in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1904,  p.  162. 


NEGBO   CRIME  17 

preacher  has  sent  it  broadcast  over  the  South,  and  it  was  doubtless  used  in  the 
recent  campaign  in  that  state.  Scores  of  papers  have  copied  it.  Even  now  a 
Southern  daily  which  I  have  just  received  has  a  two-column  argument  against 
Negro  education,  based  on  the  alleged  census  figures.  "To  school  the  Negro," 
says  the  writer,  "is  to  increase  his  criminality.  Official  statistics  do  not  lie,  and 
they  tell  us  that  the  Negroes  who  can  read  and  write  are  more  criminal  than  the 
illiterate.  In  New  England,  where  they  are  best  educated,  they  are  four  and  a 
half  times  as  criminal  as  in  the  Black  Belt,  where  they  are  most  ignorant.  The  more 
money  for  Negro  education,  the  more  Negro  crime.  This  is  the  unmistakable 
showing  of  the  United  States  Census." 

That  such  statements  as  these  have  thus  far  gone  unchallenged  should  indeed 
excite  our  special  wonder.  It  was  only  the  desire  to  get  the  exact  figures  that  led 
me  to  discover  their  falsity.  The  truth  is,  that  of  the  Negro  prisoners  in  1890  only 
38.88  per  cent,  were  able  to  read  and  write,  while  of  the  total  Negro  population  42.90 
per  cent,  were  able  to  read  and  write.  And  in  every  division  of  the  country  save 
one  (and  that  with  only  a  handful  of  Negro  criminals)  the  prisons  testified  that 
the  literate  Negroes  were  less  lawless  than  the  illiterate.  To  make  the  matter 
plain,  the  following  figures  have  been  prepared  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education.  They  show  the  number  of  criminals  furnished  by  each  100,000  colored 
literates,  and  the  number  furnished  by  each  100,000  colored  illiterates,  according 
to  the  Census  of  1890 : 

Criminals  in  each  100,000  Negroes 

Section  Literates  Illiterates 

North  Atlantic  Division 828 1174 

South  Atlantic  Division 320 426 

South  Central  Division 317 498 

North  Central  Division 807 820 

Western  Division 542 518 

When  we  consider  that  there  were  only  258  Negro  prisoners  in  all  the  Western 
division  (out  of  24,277  in  the  Union),  the  mere  accident  that,  of  these  few,  seven 
more  than  the  exact  proportion  came  from  the  literate  element  loses  all  signifi- 
cance; the  test  is  on  a  scale  too  small  for  general  conclusions.  Summing  up,  it 
appears  that  of  our  total  colored  population  in  1890  each  100,000  illiterates  fur- 
nished 489  criminals,  and  each  100,000  literates  only  413  criminals.  Even  more 
striking  testimony  comes  from  the  North  Carolina  State's  Prison  situated  in  the 
writer's  own  city.  In  the  two  years  during  which  it  has  kept  a  record,  the  pro- 
portion of  Negro  criminals  from  the  illiterate  class  has  been  40  per  cent,  larger 
than  from  the  class  which  has  had  school  training. 

Later  the  same  writer  adds  to  this  the  following  data.* 

From  Governor  Vardaman's  own  State  of  Mississippi,  where,  in  1890, 60.9  per  cent, 
and  in  1900  less  than  50  per  cent,  of  the  colored  population  were  illiterate,  the  offi- 
cial who  sends  the  report  writes  as  follows :  "There  are  about  450  Negro  convicts 
in  the  Mississippi  penitentiary;  about  half  are  wholly  illiterate.  Of  the  other  half 
less  than  ten  per  cent,  have  anything  like  a  fair  education."  In  other  words,  in 
this  very  state,  where  Negro  education  is  pronounced  a  failure,  the  literate  Ne- 
groes furnish  a  smaller  proportion  of  criminals  than  the  illiterate,  and  not  even 
those  literate  Negro  criminals  are  really  fairly  educated.  Similar  testimony 
comes  from  other  states.  In  North  Carolina  the  illiterate  Negroes  of  the  state 
furnished  40  per  cent,  more  criminals,  according  to  number,  than  the  Negroes  who 
could  both  read  and  write.  In  South  Carolina,  where  the  census  of  1890  gives  the 
Negro  literates  as  constituting  47.2  per  cent,   of  the  entire  race  in  the  state,  the 

♦Editorial  in  the  Outlook,  Jan.  30, 1904,  pp.  246-7. 


18  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

penitentiary  superintendent  estimates  that  only  25  per  cent,  can  both  read  and 
write.  In  Georgia  more  than  60  per  cent,  of  the  Negro  convicts  are  illiterate, 
while  of  the  total  Negro  population  only  47.6  per  cent,  are  illiterate.  In  Alabama 
the  illiterates  among  the  Negro  criminals  are  reported  as  about  70  per  cent,  while 
the  illiteracy  of  the  total  colored  population  is  only  57.4  per  cent.  This  means 
that  in  that  state  the  Negroes  who  cannot  read  and  write  furnish  about  30  per 
cent,  more  criminals,  in  round  numbers,  than  the  Negroes  who  have  had  school 
advantages.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  figures  for  illiteracy  now  are  not 
quite  so  bad  as  they  were  ten  years  ago;  and  therefore  the  figures  quoted  do  not 
make  the  facts  in  confutation  of  Governor  Vardaman's  theories  appear  as  strong 
as  they  really  are. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  common  schools  for  Negroes  sorely  need  improve- 
ment; but  even  as  they  are,  it  is  clear  that  these  schools  are  factors  for  law,  or- 
der and  morality. 

The  following  diagram  illustrates  the  facts  as  to  illiteracy  and  crime 
for  Negroes  in  the  United  States,  1890: 


POPULATION 


Literate,  42.996  I  Illiterate,  57.1% 


Literate,  88.9  I  Illiterate,  61.1% 


PRISONERS 


So  much  has  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject  of  lynching  that  it 
is  necessary  here  simply  to  add  the  usually  received  statistics  on  the 
subject,  collected  by  the  Chicago  Tribune  [see  page  19]. 

5.  Crime  in  Cities  (by  Monroe  N.  Work,  A.  M.).  Let  us  now  turn 
from  the  bare  and  partially  misleading  census  figures  to  a  considera- 
tion of  other  sources  of  information.  The  best  sources  available  are 
the  reports  of  crime  in  various  cities  together  with  a  few  states.  In 
these  places  the  longest  periods  of  time  for  which  data  were  available 
have  been  taken.  Whenever  possible,  the  number  of  prisoners  received 
in  jails,  workhouses,  and  penitentiaries  during  specified  periods  of  time 
have  been  taken.  The  distinction  between  arrests  and  convictions  has 
been  maintained.  An  analysis  of  crimes  and  offenses  has  also  been 
attempted  to  see  if  particular  crimes  or  offenses  are  increasing  or  de- 
creasing. It  is  recognized  that  the  liability  to  make  errors  has  not 
been  eliminated,  but  it  is  hoped  that  the  method  of  presenting  the  data 
and  of  interpretation  has  been  such  as  to  reduce  the  amount  of  error  to 
a  minimum. 

Negro  crime  is  considered  in  three  periods:  prior  to  1866-1867;  from 
1887  to  1880;  and  from  1880  to  1903.  Although  the  data  for  the  first  two 
periods  are  somewhat  meager,  it  enables  us,  however,  to  gain  some  idea 
of  the  rate  of  these  two  periods. 


NEGRO  CRIME 


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20 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


No  special  comparison  of  the  crime  rates  of  whites  and  Negroes  is 
made.  It  is  recognized  that  the  crime  rate  of  the  Negroes  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  whites.  In  1900  the  rate  of  Negro  arrests  and  com- 
mitments was  from  one  and  a  half  to  ten  times  greater  than  that  of  the 
whites.  The  correct  method  for  a  comparison  of  crime  among  the 
whites  and  Negroes  would  be  to  compare  the  crime  rate  of  the  Negroes 
with  the  crime  rate  of  the  corresponding  class  or  stratum  of  the  whites. 
This  comparison  would  no  doubt  show  much  less  difference  in  the 
respective  crime  rates  than  is  shown  when  the  crime  rate  of  the  Ne- 
groes as  a  whole  is  compared  with  that  of  the  whites  as  a  whole.  Since 
it  is  not  possible  to  make  this  comparison  it  is  probably  better,  as  has 
been  done  in  this  study,  to  consider  Negro  crime  in  its  relation  to  the 
Negro  population,  recognizing  that  the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  Ne- 
gro, past  and  present,  tend  to  keep  his  crime  rate  high.  Police  arrests, 
jail,  workhouse,  and  penitentiary  commitments  are  respectively  con- 
sidered. 

Police  Arrests.  Data  were  available  for  twenty  representative  North- 
ern and  Southern  cities.     Nine  of  these  follow  in  detail: 

Arrests  per  Thousand  of  Negro  Population 


CITIES 

Negro  popu- 
lation 1900 

1858 
A 

1867 
B 

1872 
C 

1875 
D 

1880 
E 

1885 
F 

1890 

New  York 

60,666 
62,613 
86,702 
31,522 
28,090 
39,139 
14,482 
30,150 
35,516 

83 
150 

106 

82 

Philadelphia 

Washington 

94 

47 

69 

111 

90 

82 

65 

161 

50 

65 

129 
108 
274 
108 

80 
166 

Charleston 

70 

Savannah 

79 

75 

Louisville 

99 

Cincinnati 

163 

153 

80 

132 

226 
97 

106 
211 
134 

225 

Chicago 

387 

St.  Louis 

64 

120 

u4— Philadelphia,  1864. 

B— St.  Louis,  1869. 

C— Philadelphia,  1870. 

Z>— Savannah,  1874. 

2£— Washington,  Savannah  and  St.  Louis,  1881;  Cincinnati,  1882. 

F—  Louisville,  1884. 

In  the  chart  which  follows  a  more  comprehensive  view  of  Negro  ar- 
rests in  the  above  nine  cities  is  given.  The  variation  in  the  rate  of 
each  city  and  the  difference  in  the  various  rates  of  the  several  cities, 
together  with  what  appears  to  be  the  present  tendency  of  Negro  arrests, 
are  shown. 

It  appears  from  the  following  chart  that,  for  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, the  only  cities  for  which  data  prior  to  1866  were  available,  as 
has  been  shown,  the  rate  of  Negro  arrests  per  thousand  of  the  Negro 
population  was  about  as  great,  or  greater,  prior  to  1866  than  in  1902. 
The  maximum  of  the  rate  for  New  York,  111,  was  reached  in  1899;  the 
rate  for  Philadelphia  has  at  no  time  since  been  as  great  as  it  was  in 
1864,  150.  Statistics  were  available  for  Washington  from  1881  to  1902. 
The  rate  of  Negro  arrests  in  1881  was  111 ;  in  1902,  169,  and  the  maximum 
of  the  rate,  184,  was  reached  in  1893.  For  Charleston  we  have  data 
from  1880  to  1903.     The  rate  of  arrests  in  1880  was  90,  in  1903,  86,  and 


NEGRO   CRIME 


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22  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

the  maximum  of  the  rate,  92,  was  reached  in  1902.  Statistics  were 
available  for  Cincinnati  from  1872  to  1902.  The  rate  of  Negro  arrests  in 
1872  was  163,  in  1902, 186,  and  the  maximum  of  the  rate,  276,  was  reached 
in  1894.  For  Savannah  we  have  data  from  1874  to  1903.  The  rate  of  ar- 
rests in  1874  was  79,  1903,  143.  The  maximum  of  the  rate  of  Negro  ar- 
rests for  Savannah,  165,  was  reached  in  1898.  Statistics  were  available 
for  Chicago  from  1872  to  1903.  The  rate  of  Negro  arrests  in  1872  was 
153,  in  1903,  185.  The  maximum,  586,  was  reached  in  1892.*  Data  were 
available  for  Louisville  from  1884  to  1902.  The  rate  of  arrests  in  1884 
was  129,  in  1902,  93.  The  maximum  was  reached  in  1884.  Statistics  were 
available  for  St.  Louis  from  1869  to  1902.  The  rate  of  arrests  in  1869  was 
64,  in  1902,  166;  the  maximum,  269,  was  reached  in  1896. 

The  arrest  rate  for  each  particular  city  shows  more  or  less  variation 
from  year  to  year,  the  greatest  variation  being  in  the  case  of  Chicago* 
which  also  for  most  of  the  time  has  had  the  highest  arrest  rate.  The 
difference  in  the  arrest  rates  of  the  various  cities  has  also  more  or  less 
of  variation.  In  1879-1882,  with  the  exception  of  Chicago,  a  minimum 
of  difference  in  the  arrest  rates  of  the  various  cities  was  reached.  The 
maximum  of  difference,  511,  in  the  arrest  rates  ,was  in  1892.  Taking 
the  period  from  1866  to  1882  it  appears  that  at  sometime  during  this 
period  the  arrest  rate,  with  the  possible  exception  of  St.  Louis,  for 
each  of  the  cities  decreased.  From  1882  to  1892-1896  there  was,  with 
some  exceptions,  a  marked  increase  in  the  arrest  rates  of  the  several 
cities.  This  was  especially  true  of  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Washington, 
and  St.  Louis.  From  1892-1896  to  1902-1903  there  appears  to  have  been  a 
general  tendency  for  the  Negro  arrest  rates  of  these  cities  to  decrease. 
It  appears  that  on  the  whole,  we  are  warranted  in  concluding  that  for 
the  nine  cities  considered  the  rate  of  Negro  arrests  per  thousand  of  the 
Negro  population  is  decreasing. 

>  Twenty  cities  are  next  considered.  They  are  classified  according  to 
locality  into  Northern  and  Southern  cities.  By  such  a  classification 
we  have  eight  Northern  and,  including  Washington,  Baltimore  and 
St.  Louis,  twelve  Southern  cities.  The  period  of  time  is  from  1890  to 
1903.  A  comparison  is  made  to  see  how  the  arrest  rates  of  the  cities  of 
the  two  sections  correspond  in  respect  to  variations  in  the  individual 
rates  of  each  city,  the  difference  in  the  rates  of  the  several  cities  of  the 
two  sections,  and  the  tendency  of  the  arrest  rates  to  increase  or  de- 
crease; finally  the  cities  of  which  section  have  the  highest  arrest  rates. 

Two  charts  showing  the  comparison  of  police  arrests  in  Northern  and 
Southern  cities  follow  [see  pages  24  and  25]. 

:  An  inspection  of  the  following  charts  shows  that  variation  in  the  in- 
dividual rates  of  the  Northern  cities  is  greater  than  that  of  the  South- 
ern cities,  with  the  exception  of  St.  Louis.  In  1890  the  difference  in  the 
arrest  rates  of  the  Northern  cities,  327,  between  Indianapolis  and  Chi- 
cago, is  greater  than  that  of  the  Southern  cities;  but  in  1901  the  differ- 

*This  being  the  year  of  the  World's  Fair,  data  cover  the  arrests  of  non-residents 
and  are  not  therefore  a  measure  of  Chicago  crime. 


NEGRO  CRIME 


23 


-ence  in  the  arrest  rates  of  the  Southern  cities,  £87,  between  Memphis 
and  Atlanta  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  Northern  cities.  In  1890 
the  arrest  rates  for  four  of  the  Northern  cities  were  greater  than  those 
of  the  Southern  cities,  while  three  of  the  Northern  cities  had  lower 
rates  than  any  of  the  Southern  cities  except  Savannah.  In  1902  four 
of  the  Northern  and  seven  of  the  Southern  cities  had  rates  above  107. 
This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  at  present  the  rates  of  arrests  for 
Southern  cities  is  probably  greater  than  those  for  the  Northern  cities. 
Observing  the  rates  of  arrests  for  both  sections,  it  is  seen  that  in  the 
Northern  section  there  appears  to  be  a  notable  tendency  for  the  rates 
to  decrease.  In  the  Southern  section  the  tendency,  while  not  so 
marked,  is  also  apparently  toward  a  decrease.  This  would  be  more  ap- 
parent if  the  rates  of  arrests  for  the  Southern  cities  were  shown  for  a 
longer  period  of  time,  as  was  the  case  for  Washington,  Charleston, 
Louisville,  and  St.  Louis. 

Jail  Commitments. — Data  relating  to  jail  commitments  were  available 
for  three  cities,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  and  St.  Louis,  and  two  states, 
Ohio  and  Michigan.     Statistics  for  these  cities  and  states  follow: 

Jail  Commitments  per  Thousand  of  the  Negro  Population  for  Certain  Cities  and  States 


Year 

Baltimore 

Charleston* 

St.  Louis 

Ohio 

Michigan 

1873 

5.3 

1874 

1875 

1876 

10 
9 

1877 

10 

1878 

14 

1879 

9 
9 

9 
9 

14 

1880 

42 
33 
32 
25 
24 
22 
21 
20 
31 

16 

1881 

15 
21 
14 
16 
14 
19 
18 
20 

12 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

11 
11 

13 

1886 

13 

1887 

14 

1888 

57 

21 

1889 

69 

30 

19 

29 

1890 

58 

31 

18 

36 

1891 

57 

30 

24 

19 

1892 

56 

29 

23 

27 

1893 

59 

21 

27 

28 

1894 

59 

35 

29 

31 

1895 

56 

24 

28 

25 

1896 

52 

.26 

29 

15 

36 

1897 

60 

28 

12 

50 

1898 

28 
37 

40 

38 

14 

53 

1899 

55 
59 
65 

33 

1900 

32 

1901 

24 

23 

1902 

38 
34 

14 

1903 

♦Jail  commitments  for  Charleston  Include  those  sentenced  to  the  chain-gang  and 
those  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  or  serve  a  short  term  in  jail. 

By  consulting  the  above  table  of  statistics  it  is  seen  that  in  Baltimore 
during  the  year  1888  the  rate  of  jail  commitments  was  57;  in  1901  the 
rate  was  65;  the  highest  rate  of  commitments,  69,  was  in  1899.  The  rate 
of  commitments  for  Charleston  in  1880  was  42;  in  1903  the  rate  was  34; 
the  highest  rate  of  jail  commitments  was  in  1880.     In  St.  Louis  the  rate 


24 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


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26 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


of  commitments  for  1881  was  15;  in  1901  the  rate  was  24;  the  highest 
rate  of  commitments,  29,  was  in  1894  and  1896.  The  rate  of  jail  commit- 
ments for  the  state  of  Ohio  was  5.3  in  1873;  in  1902  the  rate  was  14;  the 
highest  rate  of  jail  commitments,  15,  was  in  1896.  In  the  state  of  Mich- 
igan the  rate  of  jail  commitments  for  1877  was  10;  in  1901  the  rate  of 
commitments  was  23;  the  highest  rate,  53,  was  in  1898. 

The  rate  of  commitments  for  the  cities  of  Baltimore  and  Charleston 
during  the  periods  for  which  data  were  available  do  not  appear  to  have 
varied  very  much.  The  rates  of  jail  commitments  for  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  and  the  states  of  Ohio  and  Michigan  appear  to  have  varied  con- 
siderably and  are  higher  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  peri- 
ods considered.  Their  rates  of  commitments  are  not  as  high  at  the  end 
of  the  periods  as  during  some  of  the  previous  years  of  the  periods.  It 
appears  that  at  present  the  rates  of  jail  commitments  for  the  cities 
and  states  considered  have  increased  slowlj7  since  the  seventies  until 
the  nineties  and  now  apparently  are  beginning  to  decrease  slightly. 
The  workhouse  commitments  show  a  similar  tendency: 

Negro  Workhouse  Commitments  per  Thousand  of  the  Negro  Population  for  Certain  Cities 


Year. 

Philadelphia 

Washington 

Cincinnati 

Louisville 

Chicago 

St.  Louis 

1870 

16 

1871 

18 

1872 

20 

1873 

48 

58 

18 

1874 

29 

1875 

75 

1876 

54 
50 
45 
37 
32 
36 
38 
34 
34 
40 
47 
46 
36 
34 
40 
41 
43 
48 
50 
45 

62 
67 
63 
36 
33 
37 
43 
42 
48 
52 
41 
42 
46 
45 
46 
38 
49 
54 
64 
42 
44 
31 
25 
27 
31 
30 
24 

1877 

25 

1878 

1879 

39 

1880 

1881 

21 
23 

21 

1882 

26 

24 

1884 

22 
23 

24 
19 
26 
32 
38 
41 
44 
44 
42 
35 

37 
33 
33 

34 

26 

1885 

28 

1886 

31 

1887 

31 

28 
28 

33 

1888 

31 

41 

47 

28 

1889 

36 

1890 

26 

1891 

30 
31 
29 
46 
42 
31 
30 

25 

1892 

58 

23 

1893 

32 

1894 

70 
63 
58 
68 
71 
65 
57 
47 
50 

42 

1895 

38 

1896 

40 

1897 

36 

1898 

1899. . 

35 
31 

29 
30 

33 
31 

23 

1900 

1901 

23 

1902 

22 

1903. . 

30 

Penitentiary  commitments  should  be  one  of  the  best  indexes  of  the  ten- 
dencies of  crime  because  here  we  have  convictions  for  serious  offenses. 
Some  data  were  available  for  the  States  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Kansas,  and  the  cities  of  Baltimore  and  Chicago.  A 
chart  showing  the  rates  of  Negroes  committed  annually  to  penitentia- 
ries follows: 


NEGRO   CRIME 


27 


CJ> 


an 

CO       «=*=: 

t 

+ 

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i        + 


o 


Per 

C3 


m 


co 


5 


_J     ^2 


28 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


Observing  the  preceding  chart  it  is  seen  that  the  period  of  time  con- 
sidered is  from  1873  to  1902.  The  rate  of  annual  commitments  per 
thousand  of  the  Negro  population  for  the  state  of  Illinois  in  1873  was 
1.7;  the  rate  of  annual  commitments  for  Illinois  in  1902  was  1.4;  the 
highest  rate  of  annual  commitments  for  Illinois,  2.6,  was  in  1894.  The 
rate  of  annual  commitments  to  the  state  penitentiary  of  Illinois  from 
the  city  of  Chicago  in  1873  was  4.4;  in  1902  the  rate  was  1.6;  the  high- 
est rate  of  annual  Negro  commitments  to  the  penitentiary  from  Chica- 
go was  in  1873.  The  rate  of  annual  Negro  penitentiary  commitments 
for  the  state  of  Michigan  in  1880  was  1.0;  in  1902  the  rate  was  0.8; 
the  highest  rate  of  annual  Negro  commitments  to  the  penitentiary 
from  the  state  of  Michigan,  1.9,  was  in  1900.  The  rate  of  annual  commit- 
ments to  the  penitentiary  from  the  city  of  Baltimore  in  1888  was  1.1; 
in  1902  the  rate  of  annual  penitentiary  commitments  from  this  city  was 
1.3;  the  highest  rate  of  annual  penitentiary  commitments  from  Balti- 
more, 2.0,  was  in  1899.  The  rate  per  thousand  of  the  Negro  population 
for  the  number  of  prisoners  received  in  the  Kansas  penitentiary  was 
available  for  four  years  as  follows:  in  1889  and  1890  the  rate  of  annual 
Negro  commitments  to  the  Kansas  penitentiary  was  1.5;  in  1891  and 
1892  the  rate  was  1.3.  The  rate  per  thousand  of  the  Negro  population 
for  the  number  of  prisoners  received  annually  in  the  Indiana  peniten- 
tiary was  available  for  three  years  as  follows:  in  1900  the  rate  was  2.1; 
in  1901  the  rate  was  2.5;  and  in  1902  the  rate  was  2.0.  The  rates  of  an- 
nual commitments  for  Kansas  and  Indiana  are  given  merely  to  show 
that  these  rates  are  about  the  same  as  those  of  the  other  states  for  the 
corresponding  periods  of  time,  and  show  the  same  tendencies  of  rate 
variation.  With  the  exception  of  the  Negro  penitentiary  commitments 
from  Chicago  there  are  no  great  individual  variations  in  the  rates  from 
year  to  year  of  the  Negro  annual  penitentiary  commitments.  This 
will  be  better  seen  in  the  following  table  in  which  the  difference  be- 
tween the  lowest  and  the  highest  annual  rate  of  penitentiary  commit- 
ments is  given  for  each  of  the  above  states  and  cities: 

The  Difference  between  the  Lowest  and  the  Highest  Annual  Rate  of  Penitentiary  Com- 
mitments in  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Baltimore  and  Chicago 


STATES 

AND 

CITIES 

Highest  rate 
annual 

commitments 

Lowest  rate 

annual 

commitments 

Greatest  dif- 
ference in  the 
rate  of  annual 
commitments 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Kansas 

Baltimore  .  . . 
Chicago 

1.9 

2.5 
2.6 
1.5 
2.0 
4.4 

0.8 
2.0 
0.9 
1.3 
0.4 
1.2 

1.1 
0.5 
1.7 
0.2 
1.6 
3.2 

As  has  been  shown,  the  rate  of  annual  Negro  penitentiary  commit- 
ments for  no  one  of  the  states  or  cities  was  as  great  in  1902  as  at  some 
previous  date.  Since  1894-1895  there  appears  to  have  been  a  continuous 
decrease  in  the  rate  of  annual  commitments  for  the  state  of  Illinois 
and  the  city  of  Chicago ;  and  since  1898-1899  there  has  been  a  decrease 


NEGRO   CRIME 


29 


in  the  rates  of  annual  commitments  for  the  states  of  Michigan  and  Illi- 
nois, and  the  cities  of  Baltimore  and  Chicago.  This  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  for  the  states  and  cities  under  consideration  the  rates  of 
annual  Negro  commitments  per  thousand  of  the  Negro  population  to 
the  penitentiaries  are  not  increasing,  but  on  the  other  hand  are  proba- 
bly decreasing. 

Offenses,  as  is  usually  done,  are  classified  as  being  against  the  person, 
property,  society,  etc.  Offenses  for  which  police  arrests  were  made  are 
first  considered.  Some  data  of  this  sort  were  available  for  the  cities  of 
Charleston  and  Savannah.  For  Charleston,  offenses  against  the  person 
only  are  given  as  follows : 


Number  of  Arrests  for  Offenses  against  the  Person  per  Thousand  of  the  Negro  Popu= 

lation  for  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Number  of  Offenses  per  Thousand  of  the  Negro  Population  by  Years. 

1888 110  I  1897 I  1899 8.0  I  1901 10.7 

1896 10.0  I  1898. 9.0  |  1900 10.0  |  1902 10.9 


The  above  seems  to  indicate  that  in  Charleston  since  1888  the  rate  of 
yearly  arrests  per  thousand  of  the  Negro'population  for  offenses  against 
the  person  has  not  increased. 

Classification  of  offenses  against  the  person,  property,  and  society 
for  Negro  police  arrests  of  Savannah  are  next  given. 


Number  of  Police  Arrests  for  Offenses  against  the  Person,  Property,  and  Society,  per 
Thousand  of  the  Negro  Population  in  Savannah 


Year 


Offenses  against  the  person. 
Offenses  against  property. . . 
Offenses  against  society 


187U 


.07 
10.00 

68.00 


1877 


3.9 

7 


1881 


6.4 
7.00 
45.0067.00 


1886 


5.6 
5.00 

43 


1895 


0079 


10.00 
24.00 
.00 


1896 


13.00 
19.00 
66.00 


1897 


11.00 
22.00 
84.00 


1900 


16.00 

25.00 

110.00 


1901 


10.00 

23.00 

103.00 


1902 


9.00 

23.00 

111.00 


1903 


7.00 

21.00 

115.00 


From  the  above  figures  it  is  seen  that  the  annual  rates  of  arrests  for 
offenses  against  the  person  increased  from  1874  to  1900.  Since  1900 
there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  rates  of  arrests  for  offenses  both  against 
the  person  and  property.  The  rate  of  arrests  for  offenses  against  soci- 
ety has  increased,  but  not  constantly,  from  1874  to  1903. 

It  appears,  from  a  consideration  of  the  offenses  for  which  arrests  were 
made  in  Charleston  and  Savannah,  that  at  present  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  any  increase  in  the  rate  of  arrests  for  offenses  against  the  person. 
In  Savannah  since  1900  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  rate  of  arrests 
for  offenses  against  both  the  person  and  property.  The  rate  of  arrests 
for  offenses  against  society  has  increased.  This  is  due  in  part  to  more 
stringent  legislation. 

The  number  of  commitments  per  thousand  of  the  Negro  population 
to  the  penitentiary  from  Chicago  for  offenses  against  the  person  and 
property,  and  for  the  particular  offense  of  homicide  is  shown  in  the  ta- 
ble which  follows: 


30 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


The  Number  of  Penitentiary  Commitments  per  Thousand  of  the  Negro  Population  for  Of- 
fenses against  the  Person,  Property,  and  Homicide 


• 

Homicide 

Offenses 

Offenses 

YEAR 

Total  commit- 

against 

against 

ments 

the  per- 

property 

Manslaughter 

son 

mayhem 
murder 

Murder 

1873 

4.4 

.44 

3.9 

.22 

.22 

1874 

3.7 

.00 

3.7 

.00 

.00 

1875 

3.9 

.19 

3.7 

.00 

.00 

1876 

3.3 

.00 

3.3 

.00 

.00 

1877 

3.2 

.35 

2.8 

.17 

.17 

1878 

2.7 

.17 

2.5 

.16 

.16 

1879 

2.9 

.16 

2.7 

.00 

.00 

1880 

3.4 

.30 

3.0 

.15 

.15 

1881 

2.2 

.41 

1.8 

.27 

.14 

1882 

3.8 

.37 

3.4 

.37 

.24 

1883 

1.5 

.22 

1.3 

.11 

.00 

1884 

3.3 

.41 

2.8 

.20 

.21 

1885 

3.2 

.09 

3.2 

.09 

.00 

1886 

3.6 

.26 

3.4 

.18 

.09 

1887 

1.9 

.33 

1.5    . 

.08 

.00 

1888 

2.6 

.63 

1.9 

.39 

.00 

1889 

3.2 

.66 

2.6 

.22 

.14 

1890 

2.5 

.63 

1.8 

.14 

.07 

1891 

2.2 

.31 

1.9 

.12 

.00 

1892 

2.4 

.51 

1.8 

1         .28 

.11 

1893 

2.8 

.73 

2.0 

.36 

.15 

1894 

3.1 

.53 

2.5 

.24 

.09 

1895 

3.3 

.50 

2.8 

.31 

.27 

1896 

2.7 

.50 

2.2 

.21 

.21 

1897 

1.8 

.31 

1.5 

.19 

.15 

1898 

1.7 

.44 

1.2 

.18 

.04 

1899 

1.9 

.21 

1.6 

.03 

.03 

1900 

1.2 

.23 

0.9 

.16 

.09 

1901 

1.6 

.44 

1.2 

.31 

.19 

Observing  the  rate  of  penitentiary  commitments  for  the  different 
years  for  offenses  against  the  person  it  is  seen  that  the  rate,  .44,  was  the 
same  in  1901  as  in  1873.  The  highest  rate  of  commitments  for  offenses 
against  the  person,  .73,  was  in  1894.  The  rate  of  penitentiary  commit- 
ments for  offenses  against  property  in  1873  was  3.9.  In  1901  the  rate  of 
penitentiary  commitments  for  offenses  against  property  was  1.2;  the 
highest  rate  of  penitentiary  commitments  for  offenses  against  property 
was  in  1873.  The  rate  of  Negro  penitentiary  commitments  for  all  kinds 
of  homicide  in  1873  was  .22;  in  1901  the  rate  of  commitments  for  homi- 
cide was  .31;  the  highest  rate  of  commitments  for  homicide,  .39,  was 
in  1888.  The  rate  of  penitentiary  commitments  for  murder  in  1873  was 
.22;  in  1901  the  rate  for  murder  was  .19;  the  highest  rate  of  commit- 
ments for  murder,  .27,  was  in  1895. 

It  appears  from  a  consideration  of  the  offenses  for  which  Negroes 
from  Chicago  were  committed  to  the  state  penitentiary  that:  the 
rate  of  total  commitments,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  is  decreas- 
ing; the  rate  of  commitments  for  offenses  against  both  the  person  and 
property  and  for  homicide  was  less  in  1901  than  at  times  previous  to 
this  date ;  the  rate  of  commitments  for  murder  appears  to  show  a  slight 
decrease. 

In  order  to  secure  further  information  respecting  murder  among  Ne- 
groes, data  from  police  reports  of  Charleston  and  Savannah  are  given. 


NEGRO   CRIME  31 

The  following  figures  are  presented  concerning  arrests  for  murder  in 
Charleston: 

Murder  in  Charleston 

Arrests  for  Murder  by  Years 

1888 3  1  1898 12  I  1900 13 

1896 4  I  1899 11  j  1901 6 

1902 12 

From  the  above  it  appears  that  the  arrests  for  murder  were  much 
greater  from  1898  to  1902  than  they  were  in  1888  or  in  1896.  From  1898  to 
1902  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  very  much  variation  in  the 
number  of  annual  arrests  for  murder  in  Charleston.  We  are  not  war- 
ranted in  concluding,  however,  that  the  crime  of  murder  has  increased 
among  Negroes  in  Charleston  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  the  number 
of  murders  committed  have  increased  annually.  Police  reports  tell  us 
how  many  persons  were  arrested  annually  for  murder,  but  usually,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Charleston  reports,  do  not  inform  us  concerning  how 
many  murders  were  committed  annually,  nor  how  many  persons  were 
indicted  for  this  offense.  Some  of  the  Savannah  police  reports  are  an 
exception  in  this  respect,  and  give  information  respecting  the  number 
of  murders  committed  annually.  Data  relating  to  murder  by  Savan- 
nah Negroes  follow : 

Murder  in  Savannah 


YEAR 

Arrested 
for  murder 

Held  for 
murder 

Murders 
committed 

1874  

8 
8 
6 
5 

1895 

8 

1896 

1897 

18 
11 
16 
17 
6 
9 

6 
5 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

Observing  the  above  figures  it  is  seen  that  the  arrests  for  murder 
were  greater  in  1896  than  in  any  of  the  subsequent  years  for  which 
data  were  available.  The  arrests  for  murder  during  the  years  1902  and 
1903  show  a  marked  decrease  under  those  for  the  previous  years.  The 
number  held  for  murder  in  1874  and  in  1902  was  the  same  and  was 
greater  than  the  number  so  held  in  1896  and  1897.  Since  the  number  of 
murders  committed  by  Negroes  and  the  number  of  Negroes  held  for 
this  offense  appear  to  be  the  same  for  those  years  for  which  simultane- 
ous data  were  available,  it  is  probable  that  the  number  of  murders  com- 
mitted by  the  Negroes  of  Savannah  in  1874  was  8.  The  number  of  mur- 
ders committed  annually  during  those  years  for  which  data  were  avail- 
able does  not  appear  to  vary  much  and  what  variation  there  is  appears 
to  be  toward  an  absolute  decrease.  Since  there  is  also  somewhat  of  an 
absolute  decrease  in  the  arrests  for  murder,  it  appears  that  we  are 
warranted  in  concluding  that  the  crime  of  murder  is  decreasing  among 
the  Negroes  of  Savannah.  While  there  appears  to  have  been  this  ab- 
solute decrease  in  the  number  of  murders  committed  annually  by  Ne- 


32  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

groes  in  Savannah  during  this  time,  i.  e.,  from  1874  to  1903,  the   Negro 
population  of  the  city  increased  114  per  cent. 

Summarizing  our  results  it  is  seen  that  police  arrests,  jail,  workhouse 
and  penitentiary  commitments  appear  to  have  increased  during  the 
period  from  1890  to  1892-1896.  The  highest  rates  of  arrests  and  commit- 
ments were  about  1893.  Since  1894-1896  the  tendency  of  both  arrests 
and  commitments  to  decrease  has  been  notable.  The  crime  rate  for 
murder  is  also  probably  decreasing.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the 
conclusion  that  crime  is  probably  decreasing  among  the  Negroes  of  the 
United  States  is  warranted.  The  crime  rate  of  Negroes,  North  and 
South,  appears  at  present  to  be  about  the  same,  although  the  rate  of 
police  arrests  for  some  Southern  cities  is  higher  than  that  for  the 
Northern  cities.  The  claim  that  there  is  greater  criminality  among 
the  Negroes  of  the  North  than  those  of  the  South  is  probably  not  true. 
The  fallacy  on  which  this  claim  was  based  was  in  comparing  the  crim- 
inal rate  of  the  Negroes  of  the  North  who  live  almost  entirely  in  cities 
with  the  criminal  rate  of  the  Negroes  of  the  entire  South,  the  great  ma- 
jority of  whom  live  in  rural  communities. 

6.  Crime  in  Georgia.  The  Prison  Commission.  *The  second  annual  re- 
port of  the  Georgia  Prison  Commission  says : 

Previous  to  the  year  1812,  all  criminals  were  punished  by  hanging,  branding, 
public  whipping,  or  imprisonment  in  the  common  jails.  In  that  year  the  General 
Assembly  remodeled  the  penal  code,  making  most  felonies  punishable  by  confine- 
ment and  hard  labor,  and  to  carry  these  new  laws  into  effect  appropriated  money 
to  build  a  penitentiary,  or  State  prison.  In  1817  this  institution  was  completed,  its 
location  being  at  Milledgeville,  then  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  the  new  system 
was  inaugurated  and  continued  in  effect  until  1868.  During  this  period,  except 
the  three  years  immediately  following  the  Civil  War,  the  prison  population  never 
exceeded  two  hundred  in  number,  all  white,  the  Negroes  who  were  slaves  not 
being  amenable  to  the  law,  except  for  murder  and  other  heinous  offenses.  These 
convicts  were  engaged  in  manufacturing  for  State  account.* 

A  curious  light  is  thrown  on  the  attitude  of  the  State  toward  crime 
when  it  is  said,  in  regard  to  the  Milledgeville  State  Prison,  that  the  in- 
stitution "was  a  financial  failure.  For  support  and  maintenance  $520,- 
000  was  appropriated  at  different  times  above  the  income  from  its  manu- 
facturing enterprises,  or  more  than  $10,000  per  annum  net  loss  to  the 
State." 

After  the  war  the  number  of  convicts  rapidly  increased ;  the  prison 
population  has  been : 


♦From  2nd  annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Commission  of  Ga.,  1899,  p.  3. 


NEGRO  CRIME 
Prison  Population,  by  Years 


33 


DATE 


April  1,  1879. 
October 
October 
October 
October 
October 
October 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 
October  1 


1880. 
1882. 
1884. 
1886. 
1888. 
1890. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
1897. 
1898. 
1899. 
1900. 
1901. 
1902. 


June  1,  1904. 


White 

Male 

Female 

120 

1 

114 

1 

112 

1 

125 

1 

148 

1 

149 

0 

168 

0 

194 

2 

185 

2 

189 

2 

213 

1 

192 

1 

196 

1 

239 

2 

245 

3 

255 

3 

252 

6 

252 

5 

249 

7 

Negro 


Male 


1,078 
1,041 
1,100 
1,218 
1,337 
1,336 
1,478 
1,690 
1,917 
2,069 
2,144 
2,098 
1,981 
1,941 
1,885 
1,825 
1,908 
1,978 
1,973 


Female 


31 
30 
30 
33 
41 
52 
42 
54 
64 
68 
66 
66 
57 
55 
68 
75 
79 
80 


Total 


1,230 
1,186 
1,243 
1,377 
1,526 
1,537 
1,694 
1,940 
2,186 
2,328 
2,424 
2,357 
2,235 
2,228 
2,201 
2,258 
2,245 
2,315 
2,315 


YEAR 

To'tal 

Negro 

convicts 

No.  per  1,000 
of  Negro  pop- 
ulation 

1879 

1880 

1882 

1884 

1886 

1888 

1890 

1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1904 

1,109 
1,071 
1,130 
1,251 
1,378 
1,388 
1,520 
1,744 
1,981 
2,137 
2,210 
2,164 
2,038 
1,996 
1,953 
1,900 
1,987 
2,058 
2,059 

1.54 

1.47 
1.50 
1.60 
1.71 
1.66 
1.76 
1.95 
2.17 
2.29 
2.33 
2.24 
2.07 
1.99 
1.92 
1.83 
1.88 
1.92 
1.78 

It  will  be  seen  that  serious  crime  is  thus  shown  to  have  increased  in 
Georgia  up  until  1895  and  in  the  last  ten  years  has  been  continually  de- 
creasing. The  curve  formed  by  these  figures  is  characteristic  of  Negro 
crime  throughout  the  nation,  viz:  an  increase  until  about  1893-95  and  a 
subsequent  decrease. 

The  Prison  Commission,  however,  taking  no  account  of  the  large  in- 
crease in  Negro  population,  says:* 

It  was  natural  to  expect  that  immediately  after  his  emancipation,  and  his  eleva- 
tion to  citizenship,  with  its  consequent  burdens  for  which  he  was  wholly  unfitted, 
that  the  Negro  would  furnish  a  much  larger  proportion  of  criminals  than  his 
white  neighbors,  who  for  centuries  had  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  freedom  and  ed- 
ucation. But  it  was  to  be  expected  that,  after  forty  years  of  freedom  and  educa- 
tion, when  his  illiteracy  has  been  reduced  from  100  per  cent,  to  50  per  cent.,  that 
his  criminal  record  would  begin  to  decrease.    Such  expectations,  however,  have 


*7th  Report. 


34  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

not  been  realized,  to  the  distinct  disappointment  of  his  friends,  who  to-day  find 
him  more  criminal  than  when  he  possessed  no  education  whatever,  and  who  nat- 
urally wonder  if  his  education  has  not  been  a  mistake. 

The  premise  is  of  course  an  error — Negro  crime  has  decreased,  and  is 
decreasing.  The  absolute  number  of  criminals  on  the  other  hand  has 
increased,  and  as  there  was  soon  no  room  at  Milledgeville  for  the  large 
number  of  convicts  the  convict  lease  system  was  begun,  convicts  being 
leased  at  $10-$25  per  capita  from  1866-1874.  In  1876  the  lease  was  made 
for  20  years : 

This  lease  was  made  by  Governor  Smith  to  three  companies,  who,  under  the  law 
authorizing  the  lease,  became  corporations,  known  respectively  as  Penitentiary 
Companies  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3.  No.  1  was  composed  of  the  following  persons:  Jos.  E. 
Brown,  Julius  L.  Brown,  John  T.  and  Wm.  D.  Grant,  and  Jacob  W.  Seaver;  No.  2, 
B.  G.  Lockett,  John  B.  Gordon,  L.  A.  Jordan,  and  W.  B.  Lowe;  and  No.  3,  Wm.  D. 
Grant,  John  W.  Murphy,  W.  W.  Simpson,  Thos.  Alexander,  and  John  W.  Renfroe. 
The  price  to  be  paid  was  $25,000  per  annum,  irrespective  of  the  number  of  con- 
victs. There  were,  on  April  1,  1879,  when  this  contract  went  into  effect,  1,230  con- 
victs of  all  classes.    This  contract  continued  in  force  until  April  1, 1896. 

The  act  of  1897  arranged  a  new  system.  This t  is  the  same  convict 
lease  system  as  before,  with  the  following  changes : 

1.  Increasing  amount  paid  for  convict  labor  from  $25,000  a  year  to 
$225,000,  the  price  being  settled  by  bidding  of  contractors. 

2.  The  placing  of  State  deputy  wardens  and  physicians  in  charge  of 
the  various  camps  and  stockades. 

3.  The  adoption  of  a  uniform  set  of  rules  as  to  diet,  clothing  and 
housing  of  laborers  and  their  hours  of  labor. 

4.  The  providing  of  a  State  farm  for  some  of  the  women,  boys  and 
old  men. 

The  objections  to  this  system  are  manifest: 

1.  It  still  makes  the  income  from  crime  rather  than  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  criminal  of  paramount  importance.  Special  stress  is  laid  in 
each  report  of  the  Prison  Commission  on  this  income;  the  system  "is 
self-sustaining  and  nets  the  State  large  sums  of  money  annually."*  In 
1899  the  State  received  $25,000.  In  1900,  $61,826.82.  From  1901  to  1903  the 
net  income  was  about  $81,000  a  year.   In  1904  new  contracts  were  made : 

The  contracts  so  made  will  bring  into  the  State  Treasury  annually,  for  a  period 
of  five  years,  beginning  April  1st,  1904,  the  gross  sum  of  $340,000.00  and  after  de- 
ducting the  necessary  expenses  of  this  department  estimated  at  $115,000.00  will 
leave  a  net  amount  of  $225,000.00  per  annum,  which,  under  the  law,  will  be  divided 
among  those  counties  not  using  convict  labor  upon  their  public  roads,  according 
to  population,  to  be  used  for  school  or  road  purposes  as  may  be  determined  by 
their  respective  grand  juries 

The  magnificent  increase  in  the  result  of  these  contracts,  over  those  of  1898, 
which  have  just  expired,  is  not  due  alone  to  the  natural  increase  in  the  value  of 
this  labor,  but  to  several  other  causes,  deserving  mention.  + 

*5th  annual  Report,  Prison  Commission.  +7th  Report,  do. 


NEGRO   CRIME  35 

2.  The  effectiveness  of  the  State  control  of  convicts  is  lessened  be- 
cause : 

There  are  25  separate  institutions  at  which  convicts,  not  on  the  public  roads, 
are  confined  and  employed.  Twenty-nine  road  camps,  in  different  counties,  be- 
sides 40  misdemeanor  chaingangs,  making  a  total  of  94  separate  institutions,  con- 
taining over  4,000  convicts,  which  should  be  rigidly  inspected  every  month.* 

Besides  the  inspectors  there  are  the  regular  deputy  wardens  and 
guards  who  must  be  furnished.     The  Prison  Commission  itself  says: 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  present  system  is  the  division  of  responsibil- 
ity for  the  care  and  protection  of  the  convicts,  there  being  at  present  nineteen 
deputy  wardens  in  charge  of  as  many  prisons,  thereby  increasing  the  chances  for 
acts  of  neglect  or  ill  treatment,  which  will  sometimes  occur  in  even  the  best  of 
penal  systems. t 

The  Negro  convicts  were  engaged  in  work  in  1901  as  follows : 

Sawmilling 487  convicts 

Turpentine  farming 367        " 

Brickmaking 807        " 

Farming 291         " 

Mining 290         " 

1,742 

Of  all  the  2,315  convicts  in  the  penitentiary  in  1904: 

594  had  life  sentences .25.65% 

234    "  sentences  of  20  years  and  over 10.10% 

164    "  "  "  15-20  years 7.08% 

336    "  "  "  10-15  years 14.51% 

987    "  "  "  1-9  years 42.63% 

Besides  the  penitentiary  convicts  there  were  in  Georgia  in  1902: 

Two  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  misdemeanor  convicts  undergoing 
punishment  in  county  chaingangs,  of  which  103  are  white  males,  5  white  females, 
2,010  colored  males  and  103  colored  females. 

Thirty-two  of  these  chaingangs,  with  an  aggregate  of  965  convicts,  are  worked 
for  private  individuals,  in  most  cases  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  law.  Thirty- 
three  chaingangs,  with  an  aggregate  of  1,256  convicts,  are  worked  on  public  roads 
or  other  public  works. 

The  Commission  has  endeavored  during  the  past  year  to  give  all  of  these  gangs 
more  frequent  and  rigid  inspections,  ....  and  this  work  has  been  produc- 
tive of  much  improvement  in  their  general  condition,  but  many  abuses  continue 
to  exist,  especially  in  those  gangs  worked  for  private  individuals,  and  always  will 
exist,  more  or  less,  as  long  as  the  care  and  maintenance  of  the  convicts  are  farmed 
out  illegally  to  private  individuals. J 

In  1904  there  were  1,964  of  these  misdemeanor  convicts. 

Georgia  has  no  State  reformatory;  two  counties  (those  in  which  At- 
lanta and  Augusta  are  situated)  have  local  reformatories  for  white 
children,  but  none  for  Negroes. 

7.  Crime  in  Georgia.  Special  Reports.  About  100  reports  on  the  gen- 
eral criminal  outlook  among  Negroes  in  Georgia  were  received  by  the 
conference.  Reports  were  requested  from  every  chief  of  police  in  the 
State  and  from  various  county  officials,  and  a  number  responded.  The 
following  reports  are  from  white  officials  and  white  citizens: 

*7th  annual  Report,  Prison  Commission.  +5th  Report,  do.  flbid. 


36 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


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38  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

Some  comments  are : 

Brunswick — Mayor.  I  think  the  number  of  criminals  for  the  present  year  is  about 
the  same  as  in  former  years,  but  the  class  of  crime  committed  in  our  vicinity  is  of  a 
minor  nature.    We  have  very  few  cases  of  a  serious  character  during  the  year. 

Sandersville — Ordinary.  I  regret  to  say  that  crime  among  the  Negroes  of  the 
county  has  greatly  increased  since  emancipation  of  1865. 

Dawson — Mayor.  Crime  among  the  Negroes  of  my  town  and  county  is  de- 
creasing proportionally,  that  is  while  there  may  be  as  many  cases  or  possibly 
more  the  increase  in  population  makes  the  proportion  less.  This  is  due  to  a  better 
understanding  in  our  community  between  the  races,  caused  by  education.  In  our 
county  we  have  many  Negroes  who  own  their  farms  and  are  out  of  debt,  and  be- 
sides have  good  balances  to  their  credit  in  the  banks.  This  seems  to  be  an  inspi- 
ration to  the  better  class  of  Negroes  to  buy  and  save  something.  Whenever  you 
hear  of  trouble  between  the  races,  as  I  see  it  once  in  a  while,  if  you  will  investi- 
gate it  is  started  by  the  low  and  uneducated  Negro  or  white  man  or  both. 

Summerville  (Augusta) — Intendant.  We  have  a  village  of  only  5,000  people 
and  comparatively  few  criminal  cases.  Most  of  these  are  for  infractions  of  minor 
laws,  usually  disorderly  conduct  of  some  kind,  although  since  we  have  declined  to 
allow  the  storekeepers  to  sell  liquor,  even  these  offenses  occur  seldom.  The  ma- 
jority of  these  cases,  however,  come  from  the  Negro  population  and  mostly  the  idle 
and  vicious  class  of  this  race.  I  am  glad  to  say,  however,  that  the  great  majority  of 
our  Negro  population  are  very  respectable  and  orderly,  and  give  us  little  if  any 
trouble. 

Grantville — Mayor.  The  amount  of  crime  at  this  place  among  the  Negroes  is, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  alarming.  Yet  it  is  not  of  a  heinous  or  such  character  that  will 
excite  the  public  to  open  indignation  or  unlawful  violence.  It  is  mostly  of  small 
petty  crimes.  I  have  it  from  reliable  authority  from  their  own  statement  that 
there  have  been  more  children  born  to  the  women  out  of  wedlock  than  there  have 
been  by  those  who  are  married  in  this  immediate  section.  The  cause,  I  think,  is 
that  they  employ  teachers  whose  character  is  in  keeping  with  the  above  statement. 

Thomasville — Mayor.  There  is  about  the  normal  and  usual  amount  of  crime 
committed  in  our  town  and  county  among  the  Negroes.  In  the  last  few  years 
there  has  been  no  perceptible  increase  or  decrease-  The  Negroes  in  the  country 
who  are  engaged  in  farming  and  agricultural  pursuits  are  generally  peaceable,  or- 
derly and  law  abiding.  Those  engaged  in  mill  work  and  naval  stores  operation  are 
principally  composed  of  transient  labor,  and  their  chief  criminal  vice  seems  to  be 
gambling  among  themselves  and  skipping  their  employers  after  obtaining  ad- 
vances upon  promises  of  labor.  Homicides  are  occasionally  committed  by  them, 
growing  generally  out  of  a  gambling  game  or  jealousy  over  and  about  some  woman. 
In  the  towns  there  is  a  small  per  cent,  of  the  Negroes  who  are  enterprising  and 
valuable  citizens ;  the  number  is  so  small  in  proportion  to  the  other  class  that  they 
do  not  always  in  the  matter  of  public  regard  receive  the  credit  they  are  entitled  to. 

Sterling — Constable.  We  had  two  boys  arrested,  both  colored,  for  brick-batting 
a  colored  woman  in  her  house.  They  were  sent  to  the  chaingang  for  12  months 
each.  Two  white  men  were  sent  to  the  chaingang  for  12  months  each,  one  for  vio- 
lating the  game  law,  the  other  for  selling  whisky  without  a  license.  One  col- 
ored man  came  here  from  South  Carolina  to  hire  hands;  he  was  arrested  and  fined 
$50  and  cost.  He  paid  out.  One  colored  man  was  arrested  for  stealing  a  dog ;  he 
was  fined  $50  and  costs,  and  went  to  the  chaingang  for  12  months. 

Tennille — Mayor.  We  have  very  little  crime  in  Washington  county  among  the 
Negroes,  and  as  you  know  this  is  a  large  Negro  county,  yet  they  are  remarkably 


NEGRO   CRIME  39 

well  behaved.  I  have  very  few  cases  in  my  police  court.  No  Negro  has  ever  been 
killed  in  this  county  by  a  white  man  within  my  recollection.  No  lynchings  have 
ever  occurred  here. 

Metter. — In  reply  to  your  request,  will  say  the  crimes  are  enormous  in  every  re- 
spect. The  most  crimes  committed  here  are  by  our  supposed-to-be-educated  Ne- 
groes.   In  court  they  are  treated  better  than  they  deserve. 

Crawford. — My  observation  is  that  the  Negro  is  having  his  head  educated  and 
that  his  heart  is  sadly  neglected  in  the  home  circle ;  the  old  Negro  tells  you  plainly 
that  his  training  was  much  better  (not  his  education)  than  that  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration of  Negroes ;  he  knows  his  place,  keeps  it,  and  is  a  good  citizen. 

Eastman. — In  reply  will  say  that  in  all  the  criminal  courts  of  this  county  we 
have  about  fifty  convictions  annually,  mostly  minor  offenses,  simple  larceny^  etc. 
They  all  have  a  fair  trial  by  white  jury;  in  felony  cases  they  have  an  impartial 
trial;  even  in  cases  of  rape  we  give  them  a  speedy  justice,  hanging  them  to  the 
first  tree  if  they  committed  the  act.  The  Negroes  of  this  county  are  peaceable 
and  are  doing  well. 

Greenville. — It  seems  to  me  that  crime  among  the  Negroes,  particularly  petty 
crime,  is  on  the  increase  among  them.  Many  of  them  are  tried  in  the  courts  for 
this  class  of  crime,  and  as  a  rule,  I  think,  have  fair  and  impartial  trials.  It  is  also 
common  for  homicides  to  occur  among  them,  especially  on  occasions  when  they 
have  public  gatherings.  These  usually  result  after  indulgences  in  liquor  and 
gambling,  which  the  vicious  element  are  inclined  to  pursue  at  any  function,  relig- 
ious or  social. 

Turin. — Intemperance  (the  love  of  whiskey)  and  immorality  are  the  most  prev- 
alent crimes  among  the  Negroes  in  this  community. 

Putnam. — There  is  no  perceptible  increase  of  crime  among  colored  people  in 
Schley  county.  It  has  been  many  years  since  a  trial  for  murder.  Crimes  are  gen- 
erally misdemeanors,  gambling,  selling  liquor,  fights  at  Saturday  night  entertain- 
ments, an  occasional  case  for  bastardy,  seduction,  and  for  stealing  little  things.  I 
am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  a  decrease  of  crime. 

Hephzibah.— I  think  crimes  of  serious  nature  are  on  the  decrease,  some  petty 
crimes  are  brought  into  court  in  the  rural  districts.  Those  mostly  occurring  in 
this  section  are  fighting  among  themselves. 

Yatesville. — The  crimes  committed  are  almost  all  petty  larceny.  I  know  of  no 
case  in  the  county  where  he  has  not  had  a  fair  trial. 

Whitehall. — There  is  very  little  crime  committed  in  this  portion  of  the  county ; 
the  crimes,  when  any,  are  for  simple  larceny  as  a  rule.  They  get  fair  treatment 
in  this  town  and  county. 

Thomaston. — As  far  as  I  can  see  and  learn  crime  among  the  Negroes  in  this  city 
is  considerably  reduced  on  account  of  not  being  able  to  get  the  use  of  whiskey  as 
easily  as  they  once  did.  This  is  a  prohibition  town,  and  therefore  we  are  not 
troubled  with  a  great  deal  of  crime  either  among  the  whites  or  blacks. 

Austell. — The  Negroes  of  this  town  are  as  a  rule  law-abiding.  Their  weakness 
is  the  love  of  liquor  and  some  petty  stealing,  which  is  their  nature. 

LaGrange. — Fully  95  per  cent,  of  criminals  in  our  county  are  Negroes.  Crime  seems 
to  be  on  the  increase  with  them.  Larceny  is  the  principal  crime.  I  think  they  are 
fairly  treated  in  our  courts. 

Ft.  Gaines.— Crime  among  the  Negroes  of  our  community  has  been  for  several 
years  on  the  decrease.  An  examination  of  our  court  records  reveals  this  fact  to 
the  credit  of  the  race.    The  violations  of  law  are  for  the  most  part  of  a  petty  char- 


40 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


acter,  such  as  gambling,  assault  and  battery,  and  carrying  concealed  weapons. 
The  latter  is  the  crying  evil  of  the  day,  and  the  white  people  are  equally  guilty 
with  the  Negroes.  The  things  which  in  my  mind  tend  most  to  debauch  the  Negro 
are  his  propensity  for  strong  drink,  and  the  disposition  to  disregard  marital  vows. 
As  a  rule  Negroes  in  our  county  seem  to  appreciate  the  educational  advantages 
offered  them,  and  in  a  large  degree  avail  themselves  of  these  opportunities.  I've 
noticed  a  lack  of  efficiency  of  the  teachers,  and  in  many  cases  lack  of  character  as 
well.  This  is  deplorable  and  hurtful,  and  should  in  some  way  be  remedied,  and  I 
suppose  will  in  course  of  time. 

Nearly  all  the  white  officials  thought  that  Negroes  were  justly  treated 
in  the  courts.  This  is  often  stated  in  the  South,  but  once  in  a  while 
Southern  white  testimony  is  frankly  on  the  other  side;  for  instance  at 
the  last  meeting-  of  the  Southern  Educational  Convention,  utwo  state- 
ments, perhaps,  created  the  deepest  impression.  The  first  was  made 
by  Dr.  Sherer  of  South  Carolina,  who  acknowledged  that  the  criminal 
courts  meted  out  even  justice  in  but  one  instance — in  the  case  of  Negro 
vs.  Negro." 

To  these  reports  may  be  added  the  reports  of  Negroes.  In  each  case 
these  Negroes  are  men  above  the  average  of  intelligence  and  reliability 
in  their  communities.     They  report  crime  as  follows: 

REPORTS  FROM  NEOROES 


TOWN 


Pendergrass .... 

Stirling 

Grantville 

Dawson 

Lyerly 

Sandersville 

Leesburg  

Greenviile 

Calhoun 

Leesburg 

Dahlonega 

Gordon 

Pearson 

Waynesboro. . . . 

Elberton 

Dalton 

Adrian 

Hoschton 

Statham 

Tallapoosa 

Jefferson 

Toccoa  

Morgan  . . . : 

Shady  Dale 

Oordele 

Harmony  Grove 

Flintstone 

Mcintosh 

Turin 

Newnan 


COUNTY 


Jackson 

Glynn 

Coweta 

Terrell 

Chattooga 

Washington 

Lee 

Meriwether 

Gordon 

Lee 

Lumpkin 

Wilkinson 

Coffee 

Burke 

Elbert 

Whitfield 

Johnson 

Jackson 
Jackson 

Haralson 

Jackson 

Habersham 

Calhoun 

Jasper 

Dooly 

Jackson 

Walker 

Butts 

Coweta 

Coweta 


AMOUNT 


Great  deal 


Little  crime 


Little  crime 
Little  crime 
Little  crime 


Little  crime 


Little  crime 


Little  crime 

Little  crime 

Little  crime 

Very  small 
Great  deal 
Very  little 


Very  little 


INCREASE 

OR 

DECREASE 


Increase 

Same 

Increase 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Increase 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Decrease 

Increase 

Same 

Decrease 

Same 

Decrease 
Same 

Decrease 

Same 

Decrease 

Decrease 
Increase 
Decrease 
Decrease 
Decrease 
Increase 
Same 

Decrease 


REMARKS 


More  than  ever 


Stealing  most  prevalent 
Petty  crimes  increasing 
Gambling  and  carrying 

weapons 
Decreased  in  last  10 years 
No  convictions  in  2  years 
Decreased  15  per  cent. 
Three  crimes  in  4  years 
Increasing  in  all  crimes 

Only  2  in  5  months 
Larceny    and    selling 

whiskey 
50  per  cent  less  in  1  year 
Petty  crimes 
Decreased  40  per  cent,  in 

3  years 

Crime  exceedingly  below 

other  counties 
Crime  very  small 
Rapidly  increasing 
Rapidly  decreasing 


More  disorder 
Caused  by  "Blind  Tigers" 
Becoming  less  and  less 
every  year 


NEGRO  CRIME 


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42  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

Some  comments  follow : 

Sandersville. — The  criminality  of  the  race  in  this  county  is  the  least  discour- 
aging thing,  conviction  being  about  4  per  cent,  of  the  voting  population.  The 
majority  of  crimes  for  which  they  are  convicted  are  small,  a  large  percentage  be- 
ing convicted  for  gambling,  stealing,  and  disorderly  conduct  and  very  frequently 
for  dealing  in  blind-tiger  liquor. 

Brunswick. — The  chief  causes  of  crime  among  the  Negroes  here  are  drunken- 
ness, gambling,  and  sexual  immorality.  It  is  heart-breaking  to  see  Negro  women 
arraigned  at  every  court  for  fighting  about  some  other  woman's  husband;  and  I 
should  not  forget  to  mention  that  vagrancy  among  the  Negro  boys  leads  to  stealing. 
There  are  now  five  boys  m  jail,  all  under  fifteen,  awaiting  trial  for  burglary. 

Adairsville. — The  general  character  of  the  Negro's  crime  is  of  a  petty  nature- 
theft,  "blind  tigers,"  fighting,  saucing  "Mars  John,"  etc.  He  is  decreasing  in  his 
amount  of  criminality,  and  whenever  opportunity  presents  itself  learns  a  trade 
or  buys  him  a  home  and  settles  down  to  work  out  his  destiny.  I  have  noticed 
this  in  many  instances.  All  he  needs  is  a  fair  showing  in  life ;  don't  despair  of 
him.  ' 

Marshallville. — Our  best  men,  white  and  colored,  think  with  me  that  we  have 
a  very  quiet  community.  There  are  very  few  arrests.  One  white  man  said  to  me 
a  few  days  ago :  "Why,  we  have  no  need  of  a  guard  house."  This  is  true.  There 
has  certainly  not  been  a  man  in  prison  since  Christmas.  Causes :  No  whiskey ; 
good  schools.  Of  course,  it  is  not  a  model  community,  there  are  evils  of  which 
we  are  ashamed.  I  think  there  is  some  gambling,  but  I  am  told  by  men  who  know 
that  this  crime  is  practiced  by  a  vagrant  class  of  men  and  boys  who  do  not  belong 
in  the  community.  The  whites  tell  me  that  these  men  cannot  read  and  write  and 
that  they  play  cards  for  amusement.  When  they  think  the  officers  are  after  them 
they  run  to  another  settlement.    This  crime  is  most  prevalent  in  peach  season. 

But  the  crime  which  is  really  hurting  the  community  more  than  any  other  is 
sexual  immorality  between  the  races.  It  is  of  such  a  nature  that  the  local  courts 
cannot  well  handle  it,  and  Negroes  have  not  the  courage  to  condemn  it. 

I  am  sure,  however,  this  crime  is  not  increasing.  Within  the  past  twenty  years 
there  have  been  changes  for  good  along  this  line ;  still  the  subtle  influence  of  this 
immorality  is  felt  in  many  ways. 

Causes :  Poor  wages  and  love  of  dress,  influence  of  Negro  preachers,  lack  of 
home  training.  In  some  portions  of  the  county,  whiskey  is  sold  and  the  natural 
results  follow — murder,  stealing,  drunkenness  and  gambling,  and  the  county  jail 
is,  of  course,  well  filled. 

.    I  venture  to  give  the  information,  but  urgently  insist  that  my 

name  not  be  given  publicity,  because  I  am  working  in  a  bloody  and  oppressive 
county,  and  do  not  desire  to  leave  by  undue  force  because  of  family  and  business 
relations.  Crime  is  rapidly  increasing;  blind-tigers,  petty  theft,  concealed  weap- 
ons, church  disturbances.  In  some  parts  of  this  county  absolute  slavery  reigns ; 
men  and  women  are  whipped  and  driven  cruelly  from  before  the  dawn  until  dark. 
There  are  men  whose  fines  are  paid  and  are  worked  at  the  rate  of  $4.50  per  month. 
Negroes  must  invariably  settle  by  books  kept  by  men  who  furnish*  them.  Some  of 
them  with  four  in  family  make  from  12  to  16  bales  and  fall  in  debt  at  end  of  year. 
An  attempt  to  leave  means  to  have  corn  and  a  clean  sweep  made  and  spurious 
warrants  and  sometimes  an  unmerciful  beating.  There  are  many  Negroes  who 
have  lived  on  the  same  place  10  to  12  years  and  never  been  given  their  rent 
note  nor  a  final  settlement,  and  they  are  afraid  to  ask  for  either  or  to  leave.   Of  those 

♦"Furnish,"  i.  e.,  supply  goods  to  them  on  credit. 


NEGRO   CRIME  43 

who  furnish  Negroes,  six  out  of  nine  confine  them  to  bacon,  meal,  some  flour,  and 
strenuously  object  to  buying  sugar  or  too  much  dress.  One  white  man  in  this 
county  who  had  the  oversight  of  sixty  plows  would  go  to  the  store,  buy  things  for 
his  own  house  and  have  them  charged  to  one  or  the  other  hand's  account.  Social 
equality  is  forced  in  many  places,  but  due  to  white  men. 

McIntosh. — It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  more  disorder  hereabouts  than  formerly. 
Certainly  in  this  immediate  vicinity  for  the  past  five  years  there  has  been  less 
safety  than  previously,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends.  But  affairs  have  im- 
proved somewhat  of  late. 

Newnan. — Crimes  of  all  kinds  among  Negroes  are  becoming  less  every  year.  The 
number  of  criminals  in  our  courts  this  year  is  not  half  as  large  as  that  of  last  year. 
Our  police  court  has  had  little  to  do  this  year,  and  were  it  not  for  the  idlers  and 
those  inclined  to  gamble  and  run  "blind  tigers,"  it  might  be  only  a  court  in 
name.  Our  people  are  not  inclined  to  theft  as  in  past  years.  Most  of  the  crimes 
are  misdemeanors  and  arise  from  assaults  of  various  kinds. 

Pendergrass. — The  amount  of  crime  among  the  Negroes  of  my  town  is  more 
than  ever  was  known  before — such  as  gambling  and  killing,  and  a  good  number  of 
the  law-breakers  are  bonded  out  of  jail,  and  the  court  allows  a  lot  of  them  to  be 
paid  out  and  they  are  made  slaves  of  by  the  big  men  of  our  county.  So  far  as  justice 
being  given  the  Negroes  in  court,  why  they  never  get  that. 

Knoxville. — The  criminal  Negro  in  this  county  is  the  gang-laborer  Negro,  who 
gets  employment  on  large  plantation  farms,  sawmills  and  turpentine  distilleries, 
where  they  are  led  and  controlled  by  influences  which  are  oftentimes  far  from  be- 
ing good.  But  Negroes  may  be  found  in  most  every  rural  district  or  community 
on  their  own  farms,  or  on  farms  absolutely  under  their  control,  prospering.  Such 
Negroes  are  as  law-abiding  citizens  as  can  be  found  in  the  world. 

Athens. — The  primary  cause  of  so  much  crime  is  drunkenness  and  ignorance. 
The  state  of  affairs  among  our  young  men  is  alarming.  The  boys  leave  school  be- 
tween the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen  years,  and  they  drift  out  into  the  world  and 
learn  to  gamble,  drink  whiskey,  and  all  other  low  vices.  I  have  a  boy  about  thir- 
teen. At  one  time  there  were  twenty  boys  in  his  class,  and  now  there  are  only 
two.  Many  boys  seem  to  be  retrograding  morally.  They  feel  that  it  is  just  as  high 
an  honor  to  marry  a  deluded  woman  as  a  virtuous  one.  Seven  marriages  of  that 
kind  have  occurred  since  Christmas  in  our  town. 

Montezuma. — The  clerk  of  the  superior  court  informed  me  that  98  per  cent,  of 
the  criminals  were  totally  illiterate.  It  is  seldom  that  an  educated  Negro  gets 
into  trouble. 

These  men  were  asked  especially  as  to  justice  in  the  courts. 

Fort  Valley. — The  persons  whom  I  asked,  seemed  to  think  that  the  Negro  of 
this  county  received  the  regulation  "Georgia  justice"  in  the  courts;  that  is,  once 
accused,  the  Negro  is  guilty,  especially  so  if  the  controversy  is  with  a  white  per- 
son, and  must  prove  himself  innocent. 

Augusta. — It  seems  to  me  that  so  many  Negroes  are  arraigned  in  the  courts  who 
are  innocent  apparently,  that  it  is  hard  too,  to  answer  the  question  as  to  the 
cause  of  crime. 

Marshallville. — I  know  of  no  special  instance  where  Negroes  have  been 
treated  unfairly  in  the  courts,  but  I  think  the  general  understanding  is  that  the 
white  man's  word  goes  before  everything  else. 

Baxley. — So  far  as  a  Negro  is  concerned,  it  matters  not  how  good  a  law-abiding 
citizen  he  may  be,  or  how  intelligent  he  is,  nor  the  amount  of  property  he  may 


44  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

own  and  pay  taxes  on.  He  has  no  voice  in  the  court  house  except  as  a  witness  or 
to  be  tried. 

Newborn. — Sorry  to  say  that  in  our  courts,  a  Negro's  color  is  a  brand  of  guilt. 
This  refers  to  our  county  and  circuit  courts.  Justice  courts  in  rural  districts  are 
a  mere  farce.  Justice  to  a  Negro  against  a  white  man  is  less  than  a  game  of  chance. 

Dawson. — During  the  August  or  adjourned  term  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Ter- 
rell County  1902  one was  charged  with  vagrancy.    He  was  a  barber  by 

trade  and  ran  a  colored  barbershop.    One  of  the  police  on  that  beat  fell  out  with 

him  and  swore  out  the  above  warrant.    The  said produced  85  men  who 

swore  that  he  shaved  them  from  once  to  twice  a  week  and  cut  their  hair  from 
once  to  twice  a  month,  and  that  he  sometimes  did  other  work,  such  as  putting 
down  carpets,  when  called  upon.  The  trial  judge  declared  that  he  had  never 
heard  of  Negroes  shaving  twice  a  week  and  did  not  believe  any  such  thing :  that 
that  was  as  many  times  a  week  as  the  average  white  man  shaved,  and  that 
the  Negro's  beard  does  not  grow  as  fast  nor  come  out  as  fast  as  white  men's  and 
therefore  he  doubted  the  veracity  of  the  witnesses.  The  case  was  compromised 
by  the  said paying  the  sum  of  $65. 

At  the  November  term  of  the  Superior  court  held  in  Dawson,  1903,  a  boy  14  years 
of  age  was  charged  of  helping  a  man  or  tenant  steal  cotton  seed  from  his  landlord. 
The  man  had  pleaded  guilty  at  the  August  term  of  the  City  Court  and  had  been 
fined  $100  or  one  year  on  the  gang.  The  fine  was  paid  by  the  landlord  and  the 
man  was  kept  on  the  place.  The  boy  refused  to  plead  guilty  and  appealed  his 
case  to  the  Superior  Court.  The  grand  jury  found  a  true  bill  and  he  was  tried  at 
the  November  term  of  court.  At  the  trial  the  man  who  pleaded  guilty  swore 
that  he  was  a  cropper  and  worked  on  halves  and  that  the  boy  and  his  father  lived 
about  three  miles  from  him  and  that  he  learned  that  the  boy  was  to  be  sent  to 
town  early  the  next  morning  and  that  he  had  gone  to  the  old  man  who  was  a 
cripple  and  asked  him  to  let  the  boy  come  by  his  home  and  carry  a  package  to 
town  for  him  and  the  boy's  father  consented  as  it  was  not  much  out  of  the  way. 
He  swore  that  he  had  the  cotton  seed  sacked  and  out  by  the  roadside  when  the  boy 
came  along  and  that  he  (the  man)  put  them  on  the  wagon  and  told  the  boy  to  sell 
them  and  bring  him  the  money.  He  did  as  he  was  told.  He  also  swore  that  the 
boy  did  not  know  whether  he  had  stolen  the  seed  or  not  nor  where  he  had  gotten 
them.  The  boy's  parents  swore  to  the  same  facts.  The  boy  was  found  guilty  and 
sentenced  to  twelve  months  in  the  "  gang." 

At  the  August  term  of  the  city  court  in  Dawson,  1903,  there  were  twenty-five 
young  men  convicted  of  gambling  on  the  evidence  of  one  who  was  excused  be- 
cause he  turned  state's  evidence.  He  is  known  as  a  spotter.  When  he  admitted 
his  guilt  the  solicitor  got  up  and  recommended  him  to  the  judge  as  a  hard  work- 
ing Negro,  whom  he  knew,  and  who  had  worked  for  him  on  his  place.  He  was 
excused  with  only  a  nominal  fine.  The  other  twenty-five  received  sentences  rang- 
ing from  $30  to  $75  and  from  six  to  twelve  months  on  the  gang. 

In  the  Americus  city  court,  April  term,  1904,  one  X borrowed  $2  and  agreed 

to  pay  $3  for  the  same  by  working  it  out  when  called  upon  to  do  so.    Before  Y , 

from  whom  he  borrowed  the  money,  was  ready  for  him  or  called  for  him,  he  was 
working  out  another  debt  which  he  had  contracted  with  another  party.  He  could 
not  go  to  Y just  at  the  time  wanted.  Y swore  out  a  warrant  for  cheat- 
ing and  swindling  and  sent  X up  for  eight  months  on  the  "gang." 

Sylvania.— They  have  no  voice  in  court.  They  are  not  treated  fair  in  the  courts 
at  all. 

Thomaston. — The  criminals  do  not,  in  my  judgment,  at  all  times  have  fair  and 
impartial  trials.    Yet  they  are  treated  as  fair  as  the  average  Negro  in  the  South. 


NEGRO  CRIME  45 

Jewell. — The  subject  is  a  young  man  of  the  little  town  in  which  I  teach.  Christ- 
mas this  young  man  shot  a  boy,  for  which  crime  he  has  not  been  punished.  Of 
course  every  body  in  the  town  knows  that  he  is  a  desperate  character,  and  that  he 
can  give  no  cause  for  the  crime  of  which  he  is  surely  guilty.  And  yet  when  tried 
in  court  he  was  released. 

The  criminal  is  a  servant  for  one  of  the  wealthiest  families  in  the  county,  and 
of  course  they  did  their  best  to  prevent  his  being  brought  to  justice  in  the  county 
court.  The  Negro  was  arrested  and  taken  to  court  for  trial,  and  as  plain  as  the 
case  was  all  the  so-called  best  white  people  of  the  little  town  of  Jewell  met  at 
Sparta  on  court  day  and  through  their  influence  the  jurymen  were  bribed,  and  the 
result  was  that  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  was  brought  out  by  the  jurymen,  even  when 
they  knew  that  he  was  a  murderer.  Now,  I  think  the  court  did  the  very  worst 
thing  that  could  have  been  done  for  the  young  man.  By  all  means  justice  should 
have  been  meted  out  to  him,  not  so  much  for  his  own  salvation  as  for  that  of  many 
others  who  will  certainly  be  influenced  by  his  example. 

I  know  of  three  other  cases  where  the  criminals  failed  to  receive  justice  in  the 
courts,  simply  because  they  rendered  good  service  to  white  people  as  servants. 

My  opinion  is  that  the  white  man  who  makes  himself  a  protection  for  the  Ne- 
gro's crime  in  one  instance  is  simply  encouraging  crime  in  all  directions. 

My  experience  is  that  much  of  the  crime  among  Negroes  arises  from  the  corrupt 
way  in  which  the  courts  some  times  deal  with  criminals.  Either  one  Negro  of 
a  certain  town  has  been  punished  innocently  and  the  others  revolt,  or  one  has  not 
been  punished  for  the  crime  he  did  commit,  and  so  many  others  are  encouraged 
to  commit  worse  crimes. 

Athens. — The  races  in  this  section  work  very  harmoniously  together,  and  I 
know  of  no  instance  where  the  courts  have  not  dealt  justly  with  the  Negro.  As  a 
whole,  one  of  the  worst  faults  the  Negro  has  is  the  concealment  of  crime,  no  mat- 
ter how  low  the  crimes  are.  An  intelligent,  law-abiding  citizen  in  this  section  gets 
the  full  benefit  of  the  law. 

Montezuma. — In  some  cases  even-handed  justice  is  meted  out  to  both  races  alike. 
But  in  many  cases  the  white  man  uses  his  power  to  dethrone  justice. 

Sasser— As  to  their  treatment  in  the  courts  of  my  county,  I  can  without  hesita- 
tion say  there  is  some  partialty  shown.  Do  not  let  it  be  publicly  known  that  I  said 
we  are  illegally  treated,  that  is,  that  we  do  not  have  a  fair  trial  in  every  instance 
in  the  courts  of  my  county.  It  would  cause  me  to  have  enemies  among  the  whites, 
and  they  perhaps  might  set  snares  for  me. 

Claxton. — I  haven't  found  out  definitely  how  they  are  treated  in  the  courts.  I 
can  safely  say  they  are  tried  by  white  juries,  white  lawyers  and  white  judges,  so 
you  can  judge. 

Wadley. — I  don't  visit  the  county  courts,  but  as  far  as  I  can  learn  and  read  in  the 
papers,  Negroes  don't  stand  any  chance  in  them,  and  in  our  town  before  the  mayor 
it  is  the  same. 

Caenesville. — The  Negro  has  very  little  rights  here ;  all  the  white  man  is  after 
is  the  almighty  dollar.     Outside  of  that  the  Negro  is  no  more  thought  of. 

Marietta. — All  the  officials  and  jurors  are  white,  but  considering  the  fact  that 
our  judge  X has  presided  over  the  court  for  a  number  of  years  in  a  very  im- 
partial manner,  I  feel  that  our  criminal  class  here  is  very  fairly  dealt  with. 

Calhoun. — To  my  knowledge  Negroes  are  justly  treated  in  the  courts  in  this 
county. 

Kingston. — Now  as  far  as  courts  are  concerned,  we  do  not  believe  that  justice  is 
altogether  handed  down  to  us.    We  believe  that  when  a  crime  or  crimes  are  com- 


46  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

mitted  that  each  court  should  do  justice  irrespective  to  creed,  nationality,  or  color. 
We  believe  that  the  law  should  not  only  be  enforced  after  election,  but  before  as 
well. 

Waynesboro. — They  are  treated  as  a  rule  as  all  Southern  courts  treat  the  Negro. 

Shady  Dale.— Last  year  a  crowd  of  twenty  went  to  arrest  a  Negro  for  a  debt  of 
$22.  They  found  six  Negroes  gathered  there  for  a  hunt.  The  man  they  sought 
got  away.  The  six  Negroes  arrested  were  fined  from  $60  to  $120.  The  white  men 
were  upheld  by  the  law ;  yet  they  had  no  warrant  and  met  no  resistance. 

Vienna. — Of  course,  no  one  would  expect  the  Negro  to  be  dealt  with  justly  in 
the  courts.  The  judge,  jury  and  lawyers  are  all  whites,  hence  no  sane  man  would 
believe  that  the  Negro  receives  justice  before  such  a  prejudiced  body.  But  so  far 
as  white  men  are  concerned,  I  think  the  Negro  is  treated  fairly  well  in  the  courts ; 
that  is,  as  well  as  could  be  expected  from  white  men.  It  would  not  be  natural  for 
such  a  race  as  the  whites,  that  has  the  superior  advantage,  to  give  the  Negro  justice. 

Rome. — Our  people  as  a  rule  get  the  worst  of  it  in  courts,  according  to  my  obser- 
vation. 

Abbeville. — I  do  not  know  how  the  Negro  stands  here  in  the  courts,  but  I  think 
he  has  a  very  poor  chance  since  the  jury  down  here  is  ignorant  and  full  of  prej- 
udice. ' 

Folkston. — We  are  doing  very  well  here  with  the  whites,  only  we  are  denied  the 
right  of  jurymen  on  account  of  color. 

Geneva. — The  case  of  a  Negro  always  is  committed,  and  if  he  hasn't  got  some 
white  man  on  his  side,  he  is  gone  to  the  "gang." 

Thomasville. — The  courts,  on  the  whole,  here  are  inclined  to  give  the  Negro 
prisoners  justice.  In  our  last  court  40  per  cent,  of  the  accused  were  acquitted. 
Some  of  the  charges  were  very  serious,  but  absence  of  sufficient  evidence  seemed 
to  have  been  recognized  by  the  jurors,  who  seemed  impartial. 

Jasper. — In  the  fall  of  1903  white  folks  treated  the  colored  folks  very  badly  by 
white  capping.  They  dynamited  and  rocked  several  of  the  Negroes'  houses  in 
this  county.    You  know  the  colored  people  don't  get  justice  in  the  courts. 

Midville. — Justice  is  only  measured  out  to  him  according  to  the  views  of  that 
white  man  who  is  in  favor  of  him.  The  Negro's  word  in  the  courts  has  but  little 
weight.  A  Negro's  word  or  justice  to  the  Negro  in  the  courts  of  my  county  de- 
pends largely  upon  his  standing  among  his  white  friends.  If  a  Negro  has  a  case 
against  a  white  man,  it  is  generally  held  on  docket  until  it  becomes  cold  and 
thrown  out.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  white  man  has  a  case  against  a  Negro  he  is 
fined  or  imprisoned. 

Blairsville.— They  are  treated  fairly  well.  They  neither  lynch  nor  take  the  lives 
of  the  Negro  as  they  do  further  South,  but  we  are  slaves  for  them  in  a  sense. 

Waco.— Of  course  they  are  not  treated  altogether  fairly  in  the  courts,  for  they 
have  no  colored  jurors  here. 

Crawford. — For  the  most  part  there  is  a  decrease  in  the  commission  of  crime. 
We  think  the  manner  in  which  the  law  is  administered  has  much  to  do  with  the 
commission  of  crime  on  the  part  of  the  Negroes.  A  white  man  here  can  do  almost 
anything  wrong  in  violation  of  law;  if  a  Negro  is  defendant  in  the  case  justice 
steers  clear  of  the  Negro's  side.  The  crime  for  which  Negroes  are  most  strictly 
held  to  account  is  that  of  breaking  contracts.  They  are  invariably  hunted  for,  and 
when  found  are  hand-cuffed  or  tied  with  ropes,  brought  back,  severely  whipped ; 
now  and  then  one  is  killed  (self-defense  or  accidentally)  and  the  murderer  goes  free. 
Negroes  can  run   blind  tigers,  live  in  adultery  and  gamble  on  the  plantation  or 


NEGRO  CRIME  47 

here  in  the  town  unmolested,  but  he  must  not  miss  a  day  from  work.  It  did  act- 
ually occur  in  this  county  that  a  white  man  killed  a  Negro  at  a  Negro  dance  with- 
out provocation.  He  was  never  bothered  about  it.  Some  time  afterwards  the  same 
white  man  took  a  mule  from  a  white  farmer.  He  was  caught,  tried,  and  convicted  of 
horse  stealing  and  sentenced  to  the  chaingang. 

Jefferson. — There  are  from  forty  to  fifty  misdemeanor  convictions  a  year  in  our 
courts.  The  major  part  of  them  get  white  men  to  pay  their  fines,  for  which  they 
work  double  the  time.  These  white  men  run  kind  of  force  labor  farms.  The 
Negroes'  treatment  in  court  is  usually  fair,  as  there  is  no  indignant  public  senti- 
ment against  these  petty  crimes.  The  offender,  after  his  arrest,  is  generally  taken 
by  the  arresting  officer  to  some  white  man,  who  is  the  Negro's  choice ;  there  a  bond 
is  made  and  the  fellow  put  to  work.  When  court  convenes,  the  Negro  and  his  em- 
ployer appear,  and  after  some  legal  formality  the  offender  is  fined.  The  fine  is 
paid  and  the  criminal  goes  back  to  work.  These  Negroes  are  nuisances  to  the 
respectable  Negroes  of  the  communities.  They  often  give  much  trouble  at  the 
churches  and  other  public  gatherings,  with  the  boast  "that  captain  so  and  so 
will  stand  to  me  in  anything."  I  am  not  a  pessimist,  but  owing  to  the  demand 
of  labor  in  this  county  and  the  means  employed  by  the  large  land  owners  to  secure 
it,  I  truly  believe  misdemeanor  crimes  are  on  the  increase. 

Pendergrass. — The  Negroes  in  general  are  in  a  bad  shape  here.  There  are  about 
eighty  criminals  here  out  on  bond,  some  for  murder,  some  for  selling  whiskey, 
some  for  gambling,  some  for  carrying  concealed  weapons,  some  for  shooting,  and 
most  of  them  are  guilty,  too ;  but  their  captain  (i.  e.,  employer,)  takes  their  part  in 
court.  They  generally  pay  about  $25  and  work  the  Negro  from  one  and  a  half  to 
two  years,  and  the  Negro  never  knows  what  it  cost.  Some  that  are  guilty  come 
clear,  some  not  guilty  are  found  guilty  just  the  same,  for  they  can  only  swear  and 
make  a  statement.  The  whites  trade  in  them  like  slavery  times  or  like  horses. 
Some  get  their  rights  and  some  don't.  There  is  no  justice  in  court  for  the 
Negro,  except  he  has  money,  and  they  will  make  him  lose  it. 

Steam  Mill. — The  crime  of  the  Negro  is  increasing.  It  is  two-thirds  greater 
than  ever  before.  The  cause  of  this  is  that  they  are  given  the  full  extent  of  the 
law  on  the  weakest  evidence.  There  is  such  a  demand  down  in  South  Georgia  for 
turpentine  hands  and  sawmill  hands  that  every  man  who  has  got  a  sawmill  or  a 
turpentine  farm  in  the  county  is  bribing  the  courts  and  the  lawyers  to  convict  the 
Negro  regardless  of  the  evidence  of  the  crime,  because  he  wants  to  buy  him  for 
his  labor,  for  he  can  shoot  and  force  him  to  labor.  Therefore,  98  per  cent,  of  the 
convicts  of  the  county  prison  are  made  up  of  the  Negro  race.  We  have  got  more 
overseers  and  white  bosses  than  we  had  forty  years  ago. 

Waynesboro. — They  always  get  justice  I  believe  when  it  is  a  Negro  vs.  a  Negro, 
but  when  it  is  a  white  man  vs.  a  Negro  there  seem  at  times  to  be  some  variations. 
This  is  putting  it  very  mildly,  too. 

Adairsville. — In  reply  to  it,  I  will  say  that  there  is  very  little  mercy  shown  the 
Negro  in  our  circuit  courts.  There  seems  to  be  a  premium  placed  on  his  convic- 
tion, however  simple  and  light  the  charges  may  be.  This  I  am  at  a  loss  to  answer 
for,  but  as  a  general  rule  the  pressure  is  upon  him,  and  he  generally  gets  defeated 
in  the  courts  all  the  way  from  the  district  to  circuit  courts.  Of  course  this  depends 
on  whom  the  Negro  is  in  law  with.  If  it  is  with  another  of  his  color,  probably  he 
may  get  justice;  but  if  there  is  any  chance  for  his  color  to  figure  in  the  matter,  he 
is  more  than  apt  to  meet  squarely  and  promptly  with  sudden  defeat.    I  have  been 

a  resident  of  this  county  since  ,  and  all  of  this  time  been  in  direct  contact 

with  the  masses.  We  have  good  men  on  both  sides — some  white  and  some  colored 
who  strive  with  each  other  for  good — and  if  it  were  not  for  these  two  classes  of  men 


48  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

this  county  would  present  a  sad  picture ;  both  races  would  indulge  more  in  cruel 
hatred  for  each  other.  I  don't  want  to  say  too  much  right  along  here,  but  the 
Negro  is  not  accorded  his  rights  as  a  man,  either  in  court,  or  in  his  domestic 
and  commercial  relations,  not  to  say  a  word  about  his  political  privileges. 

LAVONrA. — Of  course  you  are  acquainted  with  procedure  of  the  courts  with  the 
Negroes  in  the  South.  "To  be  black"  goes  a  long  way  in  reaching  a  verdict  and 
determining  the  fine  or  punishment.  But  it  is  not  so  bad  here  as  in  some  other 
counties,  and  under  these  adverse  circumstances  the  Negroes  are  forbearing,  plod- 
ding their  way  onward,  some  with  wisdom,  and  others  with  indiscretion. 

Oconee. — Crime  is  increasing  among  the  whites.  The  whites  indulge  Negroes  in 
it  a  great  deal.  A  Negro  kills  another  and  he  escapes  punishment  by  getting  away 
or  some  white  man  pays  a  small  fine  for  him  and  he  takes  him  and  works  him.  The 
white  man  is  already  anxious  for  him  to  get  into  something  in  order  that  he  can 
tie  him.  This  is  what  some  of  them  call  controlling  labor.  There  are  hundreds 
of  Negroes  working  on  farms  and  public  works  with  some  white  man  on  his  bond 
or  working  out  fines.  A  Negro  seldom  comes  clear,  no  matter  how  weak  is  the  evi- 
dence produced  against  him.    It  does  not  pay  to  go  to  court. 

Brunswick. — It  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  convict  white  men  in  the 
courts  of  crimes  committed  against  Negroes,  nor  are  Negroes  given  a  fair  trial 
when  charged  with  offenses  against  the  whites.  Where  Negroes  only  are  involved, 
money  or  a  pull  will  generally  secure  the  acquittal  of  the  Negro  who  has  it. 

Adrien. — Our  county  is  very  rough  in  many  ways  to  work  in,  to  the  disadvantage 
of  Negroes.  We  can't  get  a  fair  trial  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  crimes  can't  be  es- 
timated fairly  on  account  of  injustice;  especially  if  it  is  a  case  between  the  Negro 
and  a  white  man,  there  is  no  hope  for  the  Negro. 

Douglasville. — As  to  the  treatment  of  the  Negro  in  the  courts,  I  should  judge 
from  my  own  observation  of  the  proceedings  of  the  courts  for  the  past  three  years, 
that  they  are  generally  impartially  dealt  with  according  to  the  evidence.  For  the 
three  years  that  I  have  been  here,  I  don't  remember  any  Negro  complaining  as  to  un- 
just treatment  of  his  race  in  court.  This  town  and  county,  from  my  observation  and 
judgment,  is  an  exception  to  most  of  the  towns  and  counties  that  I  have  lived  in. 

Baxley. — Most  of  the  crimes  committed  by  white  men  are  nolprossed  or  light 
fines  laid  when  proven  guilty,  but  there  is  no  hope  for  the  acquittal  of  a  Negro ; 
and  if  he  is  proven  guilty  (which  is  no  trouble  to  do),  he  is  given  a  long  sentence 
or  a  very  heavy  fine.  In  this  county  we  have  no  colored  jurors,  and  possibly  this 
accounts  for  the  Negroes  suffering  so  very  much  in  the  criminal  courts. 

Tifton. — In  the  courts,  he  is  usually  a  criminal  and  stands  friendless  before  the 
law. 

Summing  up  these  reports  we  can  make  this  rough  estimate  of  the 
tendency  of  crime :  Reports  from  10  counties  (11  towns)  with  118,244 
Negroes  indicate  that  crime  is  increasing;  reports  from  56  counties  (67 
towns)  with  448,117  Negroes  indicate  that  crime  is  decreasing. 

In  15  small  towns  there  were,  in  1903,5,376  arrests  of  white  and  colored 
offenders,  mostly  for  disorder  and  drunkenness.  Of  these,  3,113  were 
Negroes,  50  white,  and  the  rest  undesignated. 

It  seems  to  be  fairly  well  proven  that  there  is  comparatively  little 
crime  in  the  Black  Belt  and  in  the  White  Belt.  It  is  in  the  counties 
where  the  races  meet  on  something  like  numerical  equality  and  in 
economic  competition  that  the  maximum  of  crime  is  charged  against 
Negroes. 


NEGRO  CRIME 
8.    Atlanta  and  Savannah  (by  H.  H.  Pkootor  and  M.  N.  Work). 


49 


According  to  the  census  of  1900  the  total  population  of  Atlanta  was 
89,872;  of  these  54,145  were  white  and  35,727  were  Negroes.  Approx- 
imately 60  per  cent,  of  the  population  is  white  and  40  per  cent,  black. 
There  were  14,088  arrests  made  in  Atlanta  last  year;  of  these  5,925  were 
white  and  8,163  black,  i.  e.  42  per  cent,  were  white  and  58  per  cent, 
black.  Concerning  this  heavy  percentage  of  arrests  three  things  should 
be  said:  First,  that  732  of  the  total  arrests  were  made  on  suspicion,  and 
as  all  presumptions  are  against  the  Negro  it  may  be  confidently  as- 
sumed that  he  shared  largely  in  this  class  of  arrests;  second,  that  446  of 
these  cases  were  dismissed,  indicating  clearly  that  to  be  arrested  is 
no  sure  indication  of  crime;  and,  third,  that  a  large  number  of  these 
were  of  that  class  known  as  "rounders,"  and  were  arrested  more  than 
once.  The  largest  number  of  arrests  were  between  the  criminal  period 
of  20  and  30.     One-third  of  the  total  colored  arrests  consisted  of  women. 

The  principal  causes  of  these  arrests  were  disorderly  conduct,  drunk- 
enness, idling  and  loitering,  and  suspicion.  Of  these  arrests  at  least 
two  things  are  noteworthy.  The  first  is  that  leaving  aside  the  blanket 
charge  of  disorderly  conduct,  the  leading  cause  for  arrest  was  drunken- 
ness. The  second  is  that  just  one  man  in  Atlanta  was  arrested  for  rape 
last  year  and  that  man  was  white!  I  have  been  informed  by  the  chief 
of  police  of  this  city  that  during  the  present  year  there  has  been  but  one 
arrest  for  this  unspeakable  crime,  and  that  is  for  a  white  man  against  a 
colored  woman. 

One  of  the  causes  of  Negro  crime  is  ignorance.  Thirty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  Negroes  of  Atlanta  are  illiterate.  It  should  be  said  that  this  is 
due  in  part  to  the  influx  from  the  country  districts;  but  the  fact  re- 
mains, nevertheless,  that  every  third  Negro  one  meets  in  this  city  is  il- 
literate. Now,  this  has  a  close  connection  with  crime;  for  ignorance 
and  vice  are  twin  sisters.  A  study  of  the  accompanying  table  will 
show  a  striking  thing  in  this  connection.  We  have  seen  that  the  Ne- 
groes of  Atlanta  are  about  one-third  ahead  of  the  whites  in  crime ;  this 
table  shows  that  they  are  just  about  one-third  behind  in  school  facili- 
ties: 

Atlanta  Public  Schools  1902=1903 


School 
populate 

Schools 

Teachers 

Seats 

Without 
seats 

Colored 

8,118 
14,465 

5 

20 

49 

200 

2,445 
10,052 

5,078 

White 

4,413 

But  the  fountain  head  of  crime  among  the  Negroes  of  Atlanta  is  the 
open  saloon.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  removal  of  strong  drink 
from  the  city  would  decrease  crime  by  half.  In  my  native  Southern 
town  the  abolition  of  the  saloon  has  almost  put  the  courts  out  of  busi- 
ness with  Negroes.  In  one  of  our  Decatur  street  saloons  100  colored 
men  were  seen  to  enter  within  13  minutes  one  rainy  evening.  Of  the 
150  colored  men  and  boys  now  in  the  city  stockade  the  keeper  tells  me 
that  the  most  of  them  are  there  for  drunkenness. 


50 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


A  strenuous  effort  should  be  made  to  make  the  home  life  more  at- 
tractive. Too  many  black  boys  and  even  girls  are  permitted  to  roam 
the  streets  alone  at  night.  A  curfew  law  properly  administered  would 
be  a  splendid  thing  for  a  certain  class  of  our  young  people.  Another 
year  would  see  fewer  than  3,077  arrests  between  the  ages  of  12  and  20. 

We  need  more  philanthropic  agencies  for  the  amelioration  of  crime 
among  Negroes  in  this  city.  At  present  there  are  only  two;  they  pro- 
vide for  less  than  100  children.  Day  nurseries  are  needed  for  the  care 
of  the  children  of  hard  working  mothers  who  must  go  out  to  earn  the 
living  for  their  children  and  be  away  from  them  all  the  day.  A  refor- 
matory is  needed  for  refractory  boys,  and  a  house  of  refuge  for  wayward 
girls.  A  fully  equipped  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  would  be  a 
power  for  good  in  preventing  crime  among  young  men.  But  the  supreme 
need  of  Atlanta  is  a  great  union  college  social  settlement  established 
in  one  of  the  Negro  centers  of  crime. 

The  figures  for  arrests  in  Atlanta  since  1898  follow: 


Arrests  in  Atlanta 

i 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

Whites— 
Males 

4,508 
418 

4,523 
389 

4,957 
474 

5,384 
403 

5,289 
449 

5,413 

Females 

512 

Total  whites 

4,926 

4,912 

5,431 

5,787 

5,738 

5,925 

Negroes— 
Males 

6,911 
2,470 

7,600 
1,654 

7,415 
2,086 

8,539 
2,960 

7,808 
2,888 

7,544 

Females 

2,619 

Total  Negroes. . . 

9.381 

9,254 

9,501 

11,499 

10,696 

10,163 

1903 

AGE 


Under  12 

Between  12  and  15 
Between  15  and  20. 
Between  20  and  30. 
Between  30  and  40. 
Between  40  and  50. 
Over  50 


Totals 


Whites 

Negroes 

Male 

Female 

0 

Male 

Female 

8 

33 

1 

263 

15 

901 

73 

446 

89 

1,321 

782 

1,844 

209 

3,142 

1,242 

1,479 

130 

1,362 

369 

799 

52 

470 

107 

574 

17 

313 

45 

5,413 

512 

7,544 

2,619 

Total 


42 
1,252 
2,640 
6,437 
3,340 
1,428 
949 

16,088 


Negro  Arrests  per  Thousand  of  Negro  Population 


1898. 
1899. 


.274 
.265 


1900. 
1901. 


.266 
.322 


1902. 
1903. 


.293 
.273 


Savannah  has  54,244  inhabitants,  of  whom  28,090  are  Negroes  (1900). 
The  most  demoralizing  agencies  in  Savannah  are  some  twelve  or  four- 
teen low  dance  houses,  known  as  "Free  and  Easies,"  run  in  connection 
with  saloons.  These  are  a  great  source  of  crime  and  immorality.  A 
large  percentage  of  the  murders  and  other  offenses  against  the  per- 
son are  committed  in  them.     In  one  month  of  this  year  two  homicides 


NEGRO   CRIME 


51 


occurred  in  them,  besides  numerous  cutting  laffrays.  It  is  probably 
safe  to  say  that  these  low  dance  halls  are  the  greatest  sources  of  crime 
in  the  city.  Another  source  of  vice  and  crime  is  a  park  for  Negroes  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  city.  Here  a  low  form  of  vaudeville  is  carried  on. 
There  is  a  saloon  inside  of  the  park  and  on  the  outside  are  low  drink- 
ing places  and  other  disreputable  resorts.  This  park,  if  it  furnished 
recreation  and  amusements  of  the  proper  kind,  could  be  made  a  great 
agency  for  good  to  the  city's  large  Negro  population. 

Some  statistics  for  Savannah  follow : 

Police  Arrests  in  Savannah 

Arrests  per  Thousand  of  Negro  Population  by  Years. 


1874.. 

.  79  1  1883. 

60  |  1887. . 

.  65 

1891 . . 

.  83 

1895. 

.106 

1899  . 

.153 

1877. . 

.  56  1  1884. 

66  |  1888. . 

.  65 

1892.. 

.  75 

1896  . 

.100 

1900  . 

.152 

1881. 

.  82  1  1885. 

65  1  1889. . 

.  79 

1893. . 

.  85 

1897  . 

.122 

1901  . 

.138 

1882. . 

.  68  1  1886. 

55  1  1890.. 

.  75 

1894.. 

.  85 

1898. 

.165 

1902  . 

.144 

1903 

143 

Number  of  Arrests  for  each  Class  of  Offenses 


Year 


1874 
1877 
1881 
1886 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 


Person 


11 

59 
105 
118 
257 
352 
294 
462 
303 
272 
210 


Property 


145 
114 

116 
112 
630 
512 

587 
711 
661 
687 
618 


Society 


963 
668 
1,128 
872 
1,781 
1,732 
2,344 
3,091 
2,966 
3,243 
3,404 


Arrests  per  Thousand  of  the 
Negro  Population  for  each 
Class  of  Offenses 


Person 


0.07 

3.9 

6.4 

5.8 

10.0 

13.0 

11.0 

16.0 

10.0 

9.0 

7.0 


Property 


10.0 

7.6 

7.0 

5.0 

24.0 

19.0 

22.0 

25.0 

23.0 

23.0 

21.0 


Society 


68.0 

45.0 

67.0 

43.0 

79.0 

66.0 

84.0 

110.0 

103.0 

111.0 

115.0 


Percentage  of  Ages 


Ages 

Males 

Females 

Total 

0-14 

27.0 

21.0 

23.0 

16.0 

7.0 

2.7 

1.3 

0.7 

25.0 

27.0 

21.0 

13.0 

6.0 

3.0 

1.8 

0.7 

26.0 

15-24 

24.0 

25-34 

22.4 

35-44 

14.5 

45-54 

6.8 

55-64 

65  and  over 

Age  unknown 

2.9 
1.5 

0.7 

The  sentences  imposed  in  the  city  court  are  generally  severer  than 
those  imposed  in  the  superior  court,  e.  g.  for  larceny.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  sentences  imposed  in  the  recorder's  court  are  usually  severer 
than  those  imposed  in  the  superior  court.  This  is  a  further  substantia- 
tion of  the  fact  that  there  is  increased  stringency  in  punishing  Negroes 
for  minor  offenses.  It  further  appears  from  the  record  of  cases  that  the 
tendency  is  to  impose  severer  sentence  for  offenses  against  property  than 
for  offenses  against  the  person. 

The  amount  of  crime  among  the  Negroes  of  Savannah  could  no  doubt 
be  reduced  if  all  or  some  of  the  following  things  could  be  accomplished  : 
The  suppression  of  the  Free  and  Easies;   improved  park  facilities  for 


52  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

the  colored  people  so  that  recreation  and  amusement  which  would  be 
uplifting  and  helpful  could  be  furnished ;  the  enforcement  of  the  law 
respecting  minors  entering  saloons  and  other  questionable  places;  the 
establishment  of  a  juvenile  court  and  reformatory;  better  house  facili- 
ties; education  of  the  mass  of  the  Negroes  respecting  proper  sanitary 
observances;  an  increase  of  the  school  facilities  for  colored  children. 
The  school  census  of  the  city  for  1903  gives  the  number  of  colored  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  six  and  eighteen  as  being  8,023.  The  total 
number  of  colored  pupils  enrolled  during  the  school  year  of  1903  was 
2,312.  only  28.8  per  cent,  of  the  entire  number  of  colored  children  of 
school  age.  There  are  four  colored  public  school  buildings  in  the  city. 
They  are  crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity.  Admission  for  enrollment 
can  be  obtained  only  by  ticket.  In  due  time  some  or  all  of  the  above 
things  will  be  done,  and  then  a  greater  lowering  of  the  crime  rate  of  the 
Negroes  will  take  place.  , 

Comparing  Savannah  and  Atlanta  a  strange  discrepancy  in  arrests  is 
noticeable — 143  per  thousand  in  Savannah,  and  273,  nearly  twice  as 
many,  in  Atlanta.  The  cause  of  this  is  probably  tjiat  the  relation  be- 
tween whites  and  Negroes  in  Atlanta  is  much  less  pleasant  than  in  Sa- 
vannah. In  Atlanta  strangers  have  met:  the  mountain  whites  and  Ne- 
groes; and  the  white  policemen  arrest  Negroes  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation, so  much  so  that  the  new  mayor  has  protested: 

The  idea  that  17,000  cases  should  be  tried  in  recorder's  court  in  one  year  is  ap- 
palling, Mayor  Woodward  said.  It  places  Atlanta  at  or  near  the  top  of  the  list  of 
cities  of  this  country  in  criminal  statistics,  he  says.  The  police  department  should 
not  be  run  for  revenue,  but  for  justice. 

He  then  compares  Atlanta's  record  with  that  of  St.  Louis,  Atlanta  being  a 
"sealed"  city,  while  St.  Louis  is  known  as  a  wide-open  town.  Atlanta  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  100,000;  St.  Louis  had  with  strangers  during  October  and  November 
about  700,000.  Yet  in  Atlanta  during  October  and  November,  1904,  there  were  3,163 
cases  tried  in  recorder's  court,  while  in  St.  Louis  the  number  was  only  5,034,  the 
St.  Louis  police  making  only  1,871  more  arrests  with  600,000  more  population.  At- 
lanta, he  declares,  needs  no  such  money. 

Mayor  Woodward  said  he  had  been  informed  that  many  policemen  keep  a  record 
of  the  arrests  which  they  make,  the  fines  and  sentences  imposed,  with  the  belief 
that  the  more  the  arrests  the  better  their  chance  for  promotion.  He  promises  to 
make  an  effort  to  have  dismissed  from  the  force  every  policeman  who  does  this. — 
Atlanta  Constitution,  Jan.  3,  1905. 

In  Savannah,  on  the  contrary,  aleaven  of  the  old  house-servant  class 
is  still  living  beside  the  sons  of  their  former  masters  and  the  mutual 
understanding  is  far  better,  and  perhaps  runs  even  to  laxness  in  cases 
where  punishment  of  Negroes  would  be  salutary. 

9.  Crime  in  Augusta  (by  A.  G.  Coombs  and  L.  D.  Davis).  Au- 
gusta is  a  city  of  39,441  inhabitants,  of  whom  18,487  are  Negroes  (1900). 
It  has  much  wealth,  culture  and  learning,  and  the  Negroes  can  with 
just  pride  lay  claim  to  some  part  of  these.  Until  two  or  three  years 
ago  crime  among  the  Negroes  in  Augusta  had  reached  a  very  serious 
and  alarming  extent.     The  recorder's   court,  with   its   daily  sessions, 


NEGRO   CRIME  53 

lasted  for  three  or  four  hours  disposing  of  drunken  brawls,  gambling, 
and  similar  offenses.  This  state  of  affairs,  however,  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  there  was  no  fear  of  the  law,  and  not  because  the  Negro  was 
so  bad.  The  punishments  were  slight  for  political  reasons.  The  ballot 
of  the  Negro  was  sought  for,  and  the  city  officials  made  themselves 
popular  with  the  black  population  for  their  own  political  interests  and 
welfare. 

Such  a  condition  of  things  demanded  a  reform,  which  was  made  possi- 
ble by  the  election  of  a  new  municipality.  All  the  courts,  city,  county, 
and  superior,  began  to  enforce  the  laws  rigidly  and  punishments  were 
meted  out  swift  and  severe,  both  for  minor  and  grave  offenses.  The  re- 
sult has  been  quite  telling,  for  the  recorder's  court  seldom  lasts  longer 
than  an  hour,  and  the  number  of  Negroes  arraigned  has  greatly  de- 
creased. And  may  we  hope  that  the  decrease  is  due  to  the  respect  for 
the  majesty  of  the  law  rather  than  for  fear  of  punishment. 

In  the  last  half-yearly  report  the  chief  of  police  says  that  crime  in  the 
city  has  lessened  about  30  per  cent.,  and  especially  that  of  moral  turpi- 
tude among  the  Negroes.  And  this  in  spite  of  the  city's  growing  popula- 
tion. 

The  following  table  gives  some  statistics  of  criminality  in  Augusta 
for  1902  and  1903: 

1902  1903 

No.  of  arrests 2,236  2,100 

No.  of  reports 1,052  768 

No.  brought  before  recorder 2,506  2,366 

No.  fined  by  recorder 1,852  1,530 

No.  dismissed  by  recorder 239  227 

No.  turned  over  to  city  court 247  220 

No.  turned  over  to  superior  court    60  48 

No.  sent  to  jail  without  fine 16  110 

No.  sent  to  reformatory 16  25 

Amount  of  fines  imposed $30,079  $21,093 

Amount  of  fines  collected 17,331  4,311 

These  figures  are  given  for  the  total  population  of  Augusta,  as  no  sep- 
arate records  are  kept  by  the  officials.  The  Negroes,  however,  form 
three-fourths  of  those  convicted.  The  average  age  of  the  Augusta  crim- 
inals is  about  25  years.  Of  the  2,868  arrested  and  reported  for  the  year 
1903,  there  were  1,490  distributed  between  the  jail  and  the  county  farm. 
Those  who  were  convicted  of  gambling,  vagrancy,  suspicious  charac- 
ter, wife-beating,  drunkenness  and  nuisance  in  general  were  sent  to 
jail.  Most  of  these  were  worked  on  the  chaingang.  The  county  farm 
received  a  less  number  of  prisoners,  these  being  convicted  for  larceny, 
carrying  concealed  weapons,  assault,  swindling  and  such  grave 
offenses. 

The  jail  in  Augusta  is  a  place  of  discipline  and  cleanliness.  Work  is 
required,  but  it  is  so  enforced  that  discharged  prisoners  report  very  hu- 
mane treatment.  The  prisoners  on  the  county  farm  have  more  labori- 
ous work  to  do,  and  often  complain  of  harsh  and  unjust  treatment. 

A  crying  need  of  Augusta,  and  one  which  may  in  a  manner  throw 
some  light  on  the  cause  of  Negro  criminalit3r  in  this  city,  is  for  in- 
creased and  improved  public  school  accommodations  for  the  Negroes. 
The   city  has  four   public  schools  for   Negroes,   having   twenty-seven 


54  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

teachers,  with  an  enrollment  of  about  2,000  pupils.  This  leaves  at  least 
2,000  other  children  unprovided  for. 

As  to  the  criminals  it  may  be  said  that  not  many  girls,  but  a  goodly 
number  of  women,  are  sent  to  jail.  There  are  some  among  these  who 
are  continually  brought  before  the  recorder,  and  they  receive  their 
sentence  with  stoical  indifference.  Sad  it  is  to  say  that  among  the  so- 
classed  criminals  are  many  young  boys  who  are  not  criminals  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word.  There  is  the  offending  boy  caught  for  throwing 
rocks,  or  spinning  his  top,  or  pitching  his  ball  in  the  street.  While 
some  of  these  young  boys  are  pardoned,  a  large  number  are  fined  ;  and 
as  these  fines  cannot  always  be  paid,  they  are  therefore  usent  up"  and 
thereby  classed  as  criminals. 

According  to  various  city  officials  consulted  by  investigators,  crime 
among  Negroes  in  Augusta  is  constantly  decreasing.  One  official  said 
that  it  was  his  opinion  that  Negroes  of  the  ignorant  type  and  whites  of 
the  ignorant  type  were  those  guilty  of  crime.  Ignorant  whites  commit 
the  same  kind  of  crime  that  ignorant  Negroes  commit,  and  15  per  cent,  of 
the  ignorant  whites  were  associates  and  co-workers  in  crime  with  the 
same  class  of  Negroes. 

10.  What  Negroes  think  of  Crime.  As  a  rough  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion, the  results  of  written  answers  of  Negro  school  children  and  stu- 
dents have  been  collected.  A  series  of  simple  questions  were  first  put 
to  1,500  Negro  school  children  in  the  Atlanta  public  schools.  The  most 
of  them  were  between  the  ages  of  9  and  15  years  and  were  city  bred.  Of 
these  583  said  that  laws  were  made  u  f  or  protection;"  315,  u  to  keep 
peace  "  or  u  order;  "  and  135,  to  "  govern  "  or  M  rule"  persons. 

The  answers  classed  under  "  For  protection"  include  many  forms  of 
protection;  e.  g.,  protection  of  one's  rights,  of  property,  of  person,  pro- 
tection of  city,  of  state,  of  country.  Under  the  hundred  or  more  un- 
classified answers  are  many  which  speak  of  laws  as  a  means  of  pre- 
venting fighting,  stealing,  etc. 

Their  ideas  of  courts  were  correct:  uTo  determine  guilt  or  inno- 
cence" (398) ;  "to  see  that  the  laws  are  obeyed"  (222) ;  uto  settle  mat- 
ters" (222);  a  few  say  for  "bad  people"  (69).  Policemen  are  for  the 
purpose  of  "arresting  people"  (522),  or  "protecting"  them  (346).  Police- 
men are  usually  kind  to  618  of  the  little  ones,  but  were  considered  un- 
kind by  459  and  variable  by  204.  Most  of  them  say  that  persons  are 
sent  to  the  "chaingang"  for  breaking  the  law  and  wrong-doing,  but 
some  others  say  that  people  are  sent  to  the  chaingang  because  uthey 
haven't  the  money  to  pay  their  fines."  One  boy  says :  "Some  good  peo- 
ple are  sent  to  the  chaingang  and  some  bad  ones.  They  are  sent  be- 
cause they  are  convicted." 

The  students,  534  in  number,  were  older  (13  to  21  years  of  age)  and 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  state.  Policemen  have  never  helped  or  pro- 
tected most  of  them  (408) ;  and  21  declared  they  have  been  specifically 
wronged  by  policemen.  Of  those  who  have  seen  courts  in  session  (134), 
71  think  the  judge  and   jurors  acted  fairly,  and  41  that  they  did  not; 


NEGRO   CRIME  55 

their  opinions  of  persons  sent  to  the  "chaingang"  vary:  164  think  them 
"bad  or  unfortunate;''  54  think  they  deserve  punishment  "if  guilty," 
and  46  doubt  the  guilt  of  many  of  them;  25  are  "sorry  for  them,"  and 
22  think  their  punishment  "makes  them  worse,"  but  28  consider  them 
"a  disgrace  to  their  race."  In  general,  many  students  consider  that  per- 
sons who  are  sent  to  the  chaingang  are  very  unfortunate.  Many  say 
that,  while  they  are  in  favor  of  punishment  for  law-breakers,  they  con- 
sider the  "chaingang"  the  worst  and  poorest  means  of  punishment. 
These  also  speak  of  and  deplore  the  treatment  of  the  criminals  on  the 
"gang." 

Many  speak  of  the  very  disastrous  results  upon  young  criminals  and 
express  the  wish  that  reformation  be  provided  for  the  youthful  offend- 
ers of  the  law.  One  says  along  this  line:  uThe  chaingang  system  is 
discreditable.  It  seems  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  punishment.  I  grow 
indignant  over  the  presence  of  young  boys  in  the  chaingang."  Another 
says:  "The  intermingling  of  young  criminals  with  old  ones  in  the 
chaingang  is  one  of  the  worst  evils  of  the  system."  A  third  says:  "I 
think  it  [the  chaingang]  is  one  of  the  last  resorts  to  which  the  state 
should  give  itself.  The  treatment  of  the  men  in  most  cases  is  very  se- 
vere and  especially  unbearable  in  the  fierce  winter  months." 

When  asked  why  so  many  young  Negroes  get  into  the  clutches  of  the 
law,  152  ascribe  it  to  "indolence"  and  "laziness;"  62 say  for  "not  attend- 
ing to  their  own  business;"  57,  "disobedience;"  40,  "bad  company;"  39, 
"ignorance;"  67,  "lack  of  home-training;"  and  19,  "race  prejudice." 
Most  of  them  have  several  causes  why  so  many  young  colored  boys  get 
into  trouble.  As  an  example  of  this  one  student  says:  "Ignorance, 
prejudice,  poverty,  wrong-doing."  Another  says:  "Idleness  is  almost 
sole  cause.  Race  prejudice  also  aids,  as  more  Negroes  are  handled  by 
the  courts  for  the  same  offenses  than  whites."  A  third  says:  "The  im- 
portant causes  are,  I  think,  the  lack  of  moral  training,  the  lack  of  educa- 
tional privileges,  and  beyond  all  the  lack  of  good  home-training.  An- 
other cause  is  the  difficulty  Negro  boys  have  in  getting  employment." 

As  a  remedy  for  criminality  among  Negroes,  118  say  "better  employ- 
ment;" 112,  "education;"  77,  "teaching  them  the  right;"  35,  "home- 
training;"  24,  "establishing  reformatories;"  22,  "Christian  work;"  12, 
"by  raising  their  standards  and  ideals;"  and  10,  "by  closing  places  of 
evil  and  vice."  Many  suggest  fair  trial  and  unprejudiced  decision  in 
courts.  Many  also  speak  of  good  association,  while  some  add  that  "our 
best  people  should  dwell  on  the  disgrace  of  being  confined  to  the  chain- 
gang." 

11.  Causes  of  Negro  Crime.  This  study  is  too  incomplete  to  lead  us 
to  many  definite  conclusions.  Yet  certain  causes  of  crime  among  Ne- 
groes today  seem  clear.    They  may  be  briefly  classified  as  follows: 

A. — Faults  of  the  Negroes. 

1.  Abuse  of  their  new  freedom  and  tendency  toward  idleness  and  vagrancy. 

2.  Loose  ideas  of  property,  petty  pilfering. 

3.  Unreliability,  lying  and  deception. 


56  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

4.  Exaggerated  ideas  of  personal  rights,  irritability  and  suspicion. 

5.  Sexual  looseness,  weak  family  life  and  poor  training  of  children ;  lack  of  re- 
spect for  parents. 

6.  Lack  of  proper  self-respect;  low  or  extravagant  ideals. 

7.  Poverty,  low  wages  and  lack  of  accumulated  property. 

8.  Lack  of  thrift  and  prevalence  of  the  gambling  spirit. 

9.  Waywardness  of  the  "  second  generation." 
10.    The  use  of  liquor  and  drugs. 

All  these  faults  are  real  and  important  causes  of  Negro  crime.  They 
are  not  racial  traits  but  due  to  perfectly  evident  historic  causes :  slavery 
could  not  survive  as  an  institution  and  teach  thrift;  and  its  great  evil 
in  the  United  States  was  its  low  sexual  morals;  emancipation  meant 
for  the  Negroes  poverty  and  a  great  stress  of  life  due  to  sudden  change. 
These  and  other  considerations  explain  Negro  crime.  They  do  not  ex- 
cuse it  however  and  a  great  burden  of  pressing  reform  from  within  lies 
upon  the  Negro's  shoulders.  Especially  is  this  true  with  regard  to  the 
atrocious  crime  of  rape.  This  is  not  to  be  sure  a  crime  peculiar  to  the 
Negro  race.  An  Englishman  tells  us  that  in  Jamaica  justice  has 
been  dealt  out  impartially  ;  and  this  has  not  resulted  in  ''impudence" 
on  the  part  of  the  blacks  towards  the  whites.  Indeed,  when  reasona- 
bly treated  they  are  remarkably  courteous, — more  so  than  the  average 
Teuton.  Attacks  by  black  men  on  white  women  are  absolutely  un- 
known ;  a  young  white  woman  is  safe  anywhere,  the  only  terror 
being  from  white  sailors.  There  are  offenses  against  black  women 
and  children,  but  not  whites.  He  infers  from  this  that  the  danger 
of  such  attacks  on  white  women,  if  it  exists  in  the  United  States,  is 
not  really  due  to  race.  For  his  own  part  he  is  sure  that  the  evil, 
where  it  exists,  is  augmented  by  the  state  of  frenzy  with  which  it 
is  met* 

But  granting  this  and  making  allowance  for  all  exaggeration  in  at- 
tributing this  crime  to  Negroes,  there  still  remain  enough  well  authen- 
ticated cases  of  brutal  assault  on  women  by  black  men  in  America  to 
make  every  Negro  bow  his  head  in  shame.  Negroes  must  recognize 
their  responsibility  for  their  own  worst  classes  and  never  let  resent- 
ment against  slander  allow  them  even  to  seem  to  palliate  an  awful 
deed.  This  crime  must  at  all  hazards  stop.  Lynching  is  awful,  and 
injustice  and  caste  are  hard  to  bear;  but  if  they  are  to  be  successfully 
attacked  they  must  cease  to  have  even  this  terrible  justification. 

B. — Faults  of  the  whites. 

1.  The  attempt  to  enforce  a  double  standard  of  justice  in  the  courts,  one  for 
Negroes  and  one  for  whites. 

2.  The  election  of  judges  for  short  terms,  making  them  subservient  to  waves 
of  public  opinion  in  a  white  electorate. 

3.  The  shirking  of  jury  duty  by  the  best  class  of  whites,  leaving  the  dealing 
out  of  justice  to  the  most  ignorant  and  prejudiced. 

4.  Laws  so  drawn  as  to  entangle  the  ignorant,  as  in  the  case  of  laws  for  labor 
contracts,  and  to  leave  wide  discretion  as  to  punishment  in  the  hands  of  juries 
and  petty  officials. 

♦Sidney  Olivier,  in  the  British  Friend,  Dec.,  1904. 


NEGRO   CRIME  57 

5.  Peonage  and  debt-slavery  as  methods  of  securing  cheap  and  steady  labor. 

6.  The  tendency  to  encourage  ignorance  and  subserviency  among  Negroes  in- 
stead of  intelligence,  ambition  and  independence. 

7.  The  taking  of  all  rights  of  political  self-defense  from  the  Negro  either  by 
direct  law,  or  custom,  or  by  the  "white  primary"  system. 

8.  The  punishment  of  crime  as  a  means  of  public  and  private  revenue  rather 
than  as  a  means  of  preventing  the  making  of  criminals. 

9.  The  rendering  of  the  chastity  of  Negro  women  difficult  of  defense  in  law  or 
custom  against  the  aggressions  of  white  men. 

10.  Enforcing  a  caste  system  in  such  a  way  as  to  humiliate  Negroes  and  kill 
their  self-respect. 

A  Southern  man,  Professor  Andrew  Sledd,  has  perhaps  best  elucida- 
ted the  meaning  of  this  latter  point:  "If  we  care  to  investigate,  evi- 
dences of  our  brutal  estimate  of  the  black  man  are  not  far  to  seek. 
The  hardest  to  define  is  perhaps  the  most  impressive, — the  general  tac- 
it attitude  and  feeling  of  the  average  Southern  community  toward  the 
Negro.  He  is  either  nothing  more  than  the  beast  that  perishes,  unno- 
ticed and  uncared  for  so  long  as  he  goes  quietly  about  his  menial  toil 
(as  a  young  man  recently  said  to  the  writer,  'The  farmer  regards  his 
nigger  in  the  same  light  as  his  mule,'  but  this  puts  the  matter  far  too 
favorably  for  the  Negro) ;  or,  if  he  happen  to  offend,  he  is  punished  as 
a  beast  with  a  curse  or  a  kick,  and  with  tortures  that  even  the  beast  is 
spared  ;  or  if  he  is  thought  of  at  all  in  a  general  way,  it  is  with  the  most 
absolute  loathing  and  contempt.  He  is  either  unnoticed  or  despised. 
As  for  his  feelings,  he  hasn't  any.  How  few — alas  how  few — words  of 
gentleness  and  courtesy  ever  come  to  the  black  man's  ear!  But  harsh 
and  imperious  words,  coarseness  and  cursing,  how  they  come  upon 
him,  whether  with  excuse  or  in  the  frenzy  of  unjust  and  unreasoning- 
passion!  And  his  rights  of  person,  property,  and  sanctity  of  home, — 
who  ever  heard  of  the  'rights'  of  a  'nigger'  ?  This  is  the  general  senti- 
ment, in  the  air,  intangible,  but  strongly  felt;  and  it  is,  in  a  large  meas- 
ure, this  sentiment  that  creates  and  perpetuates  the  Negro  problem. 

"If  the  Negro  could  be  made  to  feel  that  his  fundamental  rights  and 
privileges  are  recognized  and  respected  equally  with  those  of  the 
white  man,  that  he  is  not  discriminated  against  both  publicly  and  pri- 
vately simply  and  solely  be.cause  of  his  color,  that  he  is  regarded  and 
dealt  with  as  a  responsible,  if  humble,  member  of  society,  the  most 
perplexing  features  of  his  problem  would  be  at  once  simplified,  and 
would  shortly,  in  normal  course,  disappear."* 

A  scientific  study  of  Southern  criminal  conditions  says: 

There  is  frequently  collusion  between  lawyers  and  justices.  A  Negro  asks  a 
lawyer  how  much  it  will  cost  her  to  whip  Laura  Brown.  The  lawyer  sees  a 
justice  and  arranges  that  the  fine  shall  be  $10.  She  is  cautioned  to  do  no  "cut- 
ting," only  whipping.  If  her  wrath  is  equal  to  $10,  Laura  Brown  gets  a  whipping. 
The  Negro  is  fined  according  to  contract,  but  also  gets  classed  among  criminals. 
The  justice  of  peace  office  is  one  which  few  respectable  men  in  the  South  will  ac- 
cept. The  salary  is  small,  and  the  general  rule  is  no  conviction,  no  fee,  for  either 
jury  or  justice.     This  is  a  direct  bribe  for  conviction.    There  is  often  small  chance 

♦Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  90,  p.  67. 


58  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

for  appeal,  for  a  $100  bond  is  required,  and  few  Negroes  are  able  to  secure  it. 
Justices  and  constables  are  often  in  collusion.  The  constable  gives  a  Negro,  called 
a  "striker,"  money  to  go  out  and  play  craps.  He  informs  the  constable  when  and 
where  he  will  gather  men  to  play.  Then  the  constable  swoops  down  and  arrests 
them.  The  striker  gets  a  dividend  and  the  constable  and  justice  also  profit  by  the 
transaction.* 

.  .  .  .  (1)  Penalties  in  the  South  are  extreme  and  Negroes  are  serving  life 
sentences  for  crimes  which  receive  penalties  of  from  one  to  five  years  in  the 
North.  (2)  There  are  no  agencies  for  preventing  crime  in  the  South.  There  are 
no  parental  or  vacation  schools;  no  juvenile  courts;  no  societies  to  aid  discharged 
convicts ;  no  employment  bureaus ;  no  co-operative  societies,  and  no  municipal  lodg- 
ing houses.  There  are  three  reformatories ;  no  manual  training  schools ;  few  kinder- 
gartens ;  no  compulsory  education  laws,  and  few  Y.  M.  C.  associations.  All  of  these 
are  recognized  as  great  forces  in  the  prevention  of  crime.  There  are  no  movements 
or  institutions  for  saving  the  Negro  women,  and  they  largely  increase  the  statistics 
for  female  criminals  in  the  United  States. t 

Negro  women  are  thus  peculiarly  unprotected: 

They  constitute  the  domestic  class,  although  they  work  in  all  the  trades  open  to 
them.  Necessity  compels  them  to  work,  and  the  Negro  men  do  not  discourage  it. 
The  attitude  of  white  women  is  not  a  protection,  for  many  of  them  are  indifferent 
to  their  husbands'  or  brothers'  relations  with  Negroes.  This  is  changing  as  they 
get  farther  away  from  the  precedents  of  slavery.  White  men  have  little  respect 
for  the  sanctity  of  family  life  of  Negroes,  when  they  would  hesitate  to  enter  the 
Anglo-Saxon's  home.  Negro  women  are  expected  to  be  immoral,  and  have  few  in- 
ducements to  be  otherwise.  Religion  is  more  often  a  cause  than  prevention,  for 
the  services  are  frequently  scenes  of  crime.  Physical  senses  so  largely  predom- 
inate over  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  perceptions,  and  but  few  attempts  have 
been  made  to  develop  the  latter.  The  laws  against  immorality  are  laxly  enforced. 
Whites  within  their  own  circles  would  not  countenance  acts  to  which  they  are  in- 
different in  Negroes.  There  are  small  opportunities  for  Negro  women  to  support 
themselves  through  occupations  other  than  menial,  which  are  filled  with  grave 
temptations.  J 

And  again,  once  in  jail  and  no  attempts  at  reform  are  made  through- 
out the  Southern  States: 

With  one  exception,  there  are  no  educational  influences.  No  trades  are  taught, 
no  schools  are  conducted  and  no  reading  supplied,  except  at  mining  camps  in  Ala- 
bama. In  factories,  sawmills,  etc.,  convicts  are  given  enough  instruction  to  make 
them  productive  workers,  and  that  is  equivalent  to  a  trade.  But  the  idea  is  not 
equipment  of  individuals  so  they  can  support  themselves  when  released.§ 

The  surroundings  of  prisoners  suggest  slavery  and  degradation: 

"About  daylight  convicts  start  off  to  the  fields  dividing  into  two  gangs,  when 
they  are  busy.  The  assistant  manager  takes  one  gang,  and  a  deputy  takes  charge 
of  the  other.  One  gang  goes  to  plowing  and  the  other  to  hoeing.  When  they  get 
out  into  the  field  a  cordon  is  formed  by  the  guards,  who  are  armed  with  Winches- 
ters. The  manager  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  gang,  or  rides  horseback,  as  the 
case  may  be,  and  directs  the  operations.  He,  of  course,  is  armed  with  a  revolver, 
and  carries  the  strap  for  the  punishment  of  the  refractory  men.  This  strap  is  a 
queer  looking  affair.  It  is  a  piece  of  leather  about  6  inches  wide  and  2  feet  long, 
attached  to  a  wooden  handle.  It  is  customary  to  give  a  refractory  'nigger'  from 
one  to  twenty-five  lashes  with  this  strap  on  his  bare  back,  according  to  the  extent 

♦Kellor:  Experimental  Sociology,  p.  250.    flbld,  p.  34.    flbid,  p.  171.    $Ibid,  p.  200. 


NEGRO   CRIME  59 

of  his  offense.  The  occasions  for  punishment  are  comparatively  rare,  however. 
It  is  more  often  the  new  men  who  get  a  taste  of  the  lash.  The  lash  was  adopted 
by  the  board  some  time  ago,  and  it  is  regarded  as  the  most  humane  yet  put  in  use. 
It  is  impossible  to  cut  the  flesh  with  it,  and  a  liberal  use  of  it  does  not  incapacitate 
a  man  for  work.  The  board  is  also  particular  about  too  liberal  use  of  the  lash,  and 
sergeants  are  compelled,  among  other  things,  to  report  at  the  end  of  every  month 
the  names  of  convicts  lashed,  the  reason  and  the  number  of  lashes."* 

And  finally,  instead  of  efforts  to  improve  workmen  and  to  make  them 
more  efficient,  one  is  struck  by  such  demands  as  this: 

Under  the  present  status,  the  employing  farmer  has  little  or  no  redress  against  a 
breach  of  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  bands  he  has  engaged  to  assist  in  the  working 
and  harvesting  of  his  crop.  He  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  mercenary  immigration 
agent  or  the  machinations  of  unscrupulous  planters  in  an  adjoining  county  or 
state 

The  Constitution  is  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  outside  of  the  aid  of  immigra- 
tion, this  bewildering  problem  can  be  largely  solved  in  Georgia  and  other  Southern 
states  by  the  enactment  of  statutes  making  a  contract  between  farmer  and  laborer 
even  more  legally  binding  than  under  existing  laws 

Making  a  discretionary  term  of  imprisonment  the  penalty  for  such  breaches  and 
the  consistent  enforcement  of  such  a  provision  for  two  or  three  seasons  would  soon 
teach  this  floating,  shiftless  element  to  regard  their  obligations  with  greater  re- 
spect and  remove  one  of  the  very  present  menaces  to  the  business-like  manage- 
ment of  our  agricultural  interests. — Atlanta  Constitution;  Editorial,  March  30, 1905. 

There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  on  many  of  the  points  enumer- 
ated above,  but  it  certainly  seems  clear  that  absolutely  impartial 
courts;  the  presence  of  intelligent  Negroes  on  juries  when  Negroes  are 
tried;  the  careful  defense  of  ignorance  in  law  and  custom;  the  abso- 
lute doing  away  with  every  vestige  of  involuntary  servitude  except  in 
prisons  under  absolute  state  control,  and  for  the  reformation  of  the 
prisoner;  the  encouraging  of  intelligent,  ambitious,  and  independent 
black  men ;  the  granting  of  the  right  to  cast  an  untramelled  vote  to  in- 
telligent and  decent  Negroes;  the  unwavering  defense  of  all  women 
who  want  to  be  decent  against  indecent  approach,  and  an  effort  to  in- 
crease rather  than  to  kill  the  self  respect  of  Negroes,  it  seems  certain 
that  such  a  policy  would  make  quickly  and  decidedly  for  the  decrease 
of  Negro  criminality  in  the  South  and  in  the  land. 

The  arguments  against  this  are  often  strongly  urged;  it  is  said 
that  whites  and  Negroes  differ  so  in  standards  of  culture  that  courts 
must  discriminate;  that  partially  forced  labor  is  necessary  in  the 
South;  that  intelligent  Negroes  become  impudent  fault-finders  and 
disturb  a  delicate  situation;  that  the  South  cannot  in  self-defense  per- 
mit Negro  suffrage;  that  Negro  women  are  unchaste;  and  that  the  Ne- 
gro must  be  "kept  down"  at  all  hazards.  To  all  this  it  can  only  be  said  : 
These  arguments  have  been  used  against  every  submerged  class  since 
the  world  began,  and  history  has  repeatedly  proven  them  false. 


♦Quoted  In  Kellor:  Experimental  Sociology,  p.  195. 


60 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFEKENCE 


12.  Some  Conclusions.  A  fragmentary  study  like  this  can,  of  course, 
come  to  no  general  conclusions.  Yet  confining  ourselves  principally  to 
the  state  of  Georgia  and  to  statistics,  we  may  distinguish  certain  evi- 
dent forces  at  work :  the  downward  tendencies  are  the  amount  of  crime, 
the  number  of  lynchings,  and  the  State  income  from  crime.  The  upward 
tendencies  are  the  increase  in  population,  the  increase  in  percentage  of 
those  able  to  read  and  write,  and  the  increase  in  property. 

Taking  these,  one  by  one,  we  have : 

DOWNWARD   TENDENCIES 

(a)  Amount  of  Crime.  The  diagram  on  page  61  shows  the  Negro  prison 
population  of  Georgia  per  100,000  of  total  Negro  population.  The  exact 
figures  are  given  on  page  33.  These  figures  show  that  serious  Negro 
crime  is  decreasing.  Moreover,  the  full  measure  of  that  decrease  is 
here  but  partially  shown  as  the  argument  on  page  11  has  proven.  The 
large  proportion  of  life  and  long  term  sentences  for  Negroes  makes  the 
Negro  population  apparently  responsible  for  considerably  more  crime 
than  it  really  is.  If  the  figures  for  commitments,  year  by  year,  were 
available  the  decrease  in  Negro  crime  in  the  last  ten  years  would  be 
even  more  striking. 

(b)  Lynchings.  The  absolute  numbers  of  lynchings  in  Georgia,  as  re- 
ported by  the  Chicago  Tribune,  are : 


Averaging  these  for  five  year  periods  and  plotting  the  average  number 
of  lynchings  for  the  half  decades,  we  have  the  diagram  on  page  61.  It 
is  interesting  to  note,  first,  that  the  crest  of  the  wave  of  lynching  law- 
lessness has  evidently  passed,  and  secondly,  that  the  crest  of  the  wave 
apparently  preceded  the  crest  of  the  wave  of  crime.  It  would  be  too 
much  perhaps  to  say  that  it  caused  an  increase  of  crime,  but  certainly 
it  did  not  lessen  crime. 

(c)  State  Income  from  Crime.  From  1876-1904  the  State  of  Georgia  has 
received  from  traffic  in  criminals  a  net  income  over  expenses  of  nearly 
nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  from  the  sale  of  criminals  to  private 
contractors.    This  sum  has  been  as  follows : 


NEGRO   CRIME 
Net  Income  of  State  from  Crime  in  Georgia 


61 


Year 

Income  per 
annum 

Total 

1876-99 

$  15,000.00* 
61,826.32 
81,000.00 

225,000.00 

$345,000.00 
61,862.32 

1900 

1901-3 

243,000.00 

225,000.00 

1904 

Total 

$874,862.32 

The  sinister  increase  of  this  blood  money  is  the  greatest  single  cause 
of  persistent  crime  in  Georgia,  since  it  makes  the  object  of  the  whole 
prison  system  money  and  not  reform  of  criminals  or  prevention  of  crime. 

Of  these  three  backward  tendencies  the  two  first  show  hopeful  de- 
crease, the  last  dangerous  increase. 


•2.0 


15 


LYNCH 

NGS   IN 

GEORGIA 

tns- 


PR  ISO N  FOPULATfOM   PER 
IOOTH01/5AND 


1885        MO         [8^5"        1100      2      ,l? 


1880     \m    mo     \m    \%o    u- 


UPWARD   TENDENCIES 

(a)  Increase  in  Population;    The  diagram  on  page   62  shows  how  the 
Negro  population  has  grown  since  the  war.     The  exact  figures  are: 


Year 


1870 
1880. 
1890. 
1900. 


Population 


545,142 
725,133 

858,815 
1,034,813 


PerOent.  of  Increase 


Negroes       Whites 


33.0  % 

18.4  % 

20.5  % 


27.9  % 
19.8  % 
20.7  % 


This  would  seem  to  indicate  a  healthy,  virile  growth  of  population, 
equaling  that  of  the  whites  with  their  larger  prosperity  and  opportunity. 

*  $25,000  was  received  each  year,  but  some  $10,000  of  this  was  expended  for  State  in- 
spection. 


62 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


TO       TOTAL  NEGRO    PROPERTY 


'1 
18 

n 

16 

/3 

II 

1 

2 

7 
i 

i 

1870  1275    »  1885  \m  \M5   \m  \%$ 
NEGRO  POPULATION  OF 'GEORGIA 


MILL- 
IONS 


•  «L 

1  0 

•1 

ff 

••7 

■6 

PROPERTY  ,PE"R  CAPITA 


1870  ws  mo  im  mo  im  mo  im 


PERCENTAG-E     AtfLt 
TO  "READ  AND  WRITE 


50 

45 
40 
35 
30 
£5 

15 
10 


'1870    1375 


!8?5     I8<?0    lff<?5   J4Q0     1905 


1870 


mo 


mo 


(b)  Increase  in  Literacy.  The  diagram  of  those  10  years  of  age  and 
over  able  to  read  and  write  is  given  above,  and  is  based  on  these 
figures : 


Year 

Percentage  able 

to  read  and 

write 

1870 

7.9  % 
18.4  % 
32.7  % 
47.6  % 

1880 

1890 

1900 

NEGRO   CRIME 


63 


This  population  is  an  ignorant  population  with  shamefully  inadequate 
school  facilities  in  the  country  districts,  and  only  fair  facilities  in  the 
town  schools.  Nevertheless,  the  rapid  growth  in  intelligence  has  been 
marvelous. 

(c)  Property  Holding.  It  is  continually  reiterated  that  the  Negro  is 
lazy  and  shiftless.  That  there  is  a  large  idle  class  and  many  spend- 
thrifts is  true,  but  that  there  is  a  growing  class  of  thrifty,  saving  Ne- 
groes is  the  central  fact  of  post-bellum  history,  and  this  class  cannot  be 
ignored.  The  curve  showing  the  total  assessed  value  of  Georgia  prop- 
erty is  given  on  page  62.  The  figures  on  which  this  diagram  is  based 
are: 

Total  Assessed  Wealth  of  Georgia  Negroes 


Year 

Total 
property 

Year 

Total 
property 

1874 

$  6,157,798 
5,393,885 
5,488,867 
5,430,844 
5,124,875 
5,182,398 
5,764,293 
6,478,951 
6,589,876 
7,582,395 
8,021,525 
8,153,390 
8,655,298 
8,936,479 
9,631,271 
10,415,330 

1890 

$12,322,003 

1875 

1891 

14,196,735 

14,869,575 

1876 

1892 

1877 

1893 

14,960,675 

1878  

1894 

14,387,730 
12,941,230 
13,292,816 
13,619,690 
13,719,200 

1879 

1895 

1880 

1896 

1881 

1897 

1882 

1898 

1883 

1899 

13,447,423 

1884 

1900 

14,118,720 
15,629,811 

1885 

1901 

1886 

1902 

15,188,069 

1887 

1903 

16,714,334 

1888 

1904 

18,002,500 

1889 

To  this  must  be  added  considerable  property  in  churches  and  schools. 
Probably  the  market  value  of  Negro  property  in  Georgia  to-day  is  close 
to  $35,000,000.  The  per  capita  amount  of  property  is  given  in  the  dia- 
gram on  page  62.  It  shows  a  decrease  from  1874  to  1879;  then  a  rapid 
increase  up  to  1892.  The  financial  panic  and  the  falling  price  of  cotton 
brought  it  down  until  1899,  when  it  began  to  recover,  and  has  nearly  re- 
gained its  maximum.  The  exact  figures,  based  on  the  estimated  Negro 
population  for  the  years  between  each  census,  are : 

Property  per  Capita  for  Georgia  Negroes 


Year 

Property 
per  capita 

Year 

Property 
per  capita 

1874 

1875 

1876 

$  9.98 

8.49 

8.44 

8.09 

7.44 

7.33 

7.95 

8.77 

8.77 

9.91 

10.30 

10.21 

10.75 

10.92 

11.57 

12.32 

1890 

1891 

1892 

$14.35 
16.20 
16.63 

1877 

1893 

16.41 

1878 

1894 

15.48 

1879  . 

1895 

13.67 

1880 

1896 

13.78 

1881 

1897  

13.87 

1882 

1883 

1898 

1899 

13.72 
13.22 

1884 

1900 

13.64 

1885 

1901 

14.85 

1886 

1902 

14.19 

1887. 

1903 

15.37 

1888 

1904 

16.29 

1889 

64  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

On  the  whole,  then,  we  may  say  that  in  Georgia  the  tendencies  are 
overwhelmingly  in  the  right  direction;  crime  is  decreasing,  property 
and  education  increasing.  The  danger  lies  in  the  environingwhite  popu- 
lation with  their  tendency  toward  the  unfair  treatment  of  blacks.  So 
far  as  this  treatment  is  manifested  in  lynching,  there  is  an  evident  de- 
crease, but  the  traffic  in  criminal  labor  continues. 

How  far  the  facts  true  in  Georgia  are  true  for  the  rest  of  the  nation, 
is  not  certain,  but  probably  they  are  fairly  typical. 

13.  The  Ninth  Atlanta  Conference.  The  Ninth  Atlanta  Conference  to 
study  the  Negro  problems  convened  in  Ware  Memorial  Chapel,  Tues- 
day, May  24,  1904.  President  Horace  Bumstead  was  made  chairman 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  H.  H.  Proctor  was  made  secretary.  The  following 
program  was  carried  out: 

First  Session,  10  A.  M. 

President  Horace  Bumstead,  presiding. 
Subject:  "Causes  of  Crime." 

Remarks— The  Rev.  Mr.  James  Bond,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Remarks — The  Rev.  Mr.  A.  Eustace  Day,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
"Crime  in  Atlanta"— The  Rev.  Mr.  H.  H.  Proctor,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Discussion  by  Dr.  W.  F.  Penn,  the  Rev.  Mr.  C.  B.  Wilmer,  Dean  L.  L.  Knight,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  J.  E.  Moorland. 

Second  Session,  3  P.  M. 

Annual  Mothers'  Meeting. 

Mrs.  Mary  Tate  Cater,  presiding. 

Subject:  "Crime  among  Women  and  Children." 

Music. 

"Wayward  Children  and  the  School" — Miss  J.  F.  Cutler,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"The  School  and  Crime" — Miss  Ruth  Harris,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Music. 

Address — Miss  N.  H.  Burroughs,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Music. 

Reports  on  Social  Reform  : 

Juvenile  Reformatory — Mrs.  G.  S.  King. 

Women's  Clubs — Miss  Hattie  Escridge. 
Music. 

(The  music  was  furnished  by  children  from  the  Leonard  Street  Colored  Orphan- 
age, under  the  direction  of  Miss  Amy  Chadwick.) 

Third  Session,  8  P.  M. 

President  Horace  Bumstead,  presiding. 

Subject:  "Extent  and  Cure  of  Crime." 

"Crime  in  Savannah  as  compared  with  Chicago,  111." — Mr.  M.  N.  Work,  Savan- 
nah, Ga. 

"Crime  in  Augusta" — The  Rev.  Mr.  A.  G.  Coombs,  Augusta,  Ga. 

"Co-operation  among  Whites  and  Negroes  for  the  Cure  of  Crime" — The  Rev.  Mr. 
H.  S.  Bradley,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"The  Problem  of  Crime" — Mr.  Frank  B.  Sanborn,  Concord,  Mass. 


NEGRO  CRIME  65 

14.  Resolutions.  The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  before  the 
conference  adjourned: 

The  Ninth  Atlanta  Conference,  after  a  study  of  crime  among  Negroes  in  Georg- 
ia, has  come  to  these  conclusions : 

AMOUNT   OF   CRIME 

1.  The  amount  of  crime  among  Negroes  in  this  state  is  very  great.  This  is  a 
dangerous  and  threatening  phenomenon.  It  means  that  large  numbers  of  the 
freedmen's  sons  have  not  yet  learned  to  be  law-abiding  citizens  and  steady 
workers,  and  until  they  do  so  the  progress  of  the  race,  of  the  South,  and  of  the  na- 
tion will  be  retarded. 

CAUSES   OF   CRIME 

2.  The  causes  of  this  state  of  affairs  seem  clear : 

First.  The  mass  of  the  Negroes  are  in  a  transient  stage  between  slavery  and 
freedom.  Such  a  period  of  change  involves  physical  strain,  mental  bewilder- 
ment and  moral  weakness.  Such  periods  of  stress  have  among  all  people  given 
rise  to  crime  and  a  criminal  class.  Secondly.  Race  prejudice  in  so  far  as  it  nar- 
rows the  opportunities  open  to  Negroes  and  teaches  them  to  lose  self-respect  and 
ambition  by  arbitrary  caste  proscriptions' is  a  potent  cause  of  carelessness,  disor- 
der and  crime.  Thirdly.  Negroes  have  less  legal  protection  than  others  against 
unfair  aggression  upon  their  rights,  liberty  and  prosperity.  This  is  particularly 
true  of  Negro  women,  whose  honor  and  chastity  have  in  this  state  very  little  pro- 
tection against  the  force  and  influence  of  white  men,  particularly  in  the  country 
districts  and  small  towns.  Fourthly.  Laws  as  to  vagrancy,  disorder,  contracts  for 
work,  chattel  mortgages  and  crop-liens  are  so  drawn  as  to  involve  in  the  coils  of 
the  law  the  ignorant,  unfortunate  and  careless  Negroes,  and  lead  to  their  degra- 
dation and  undue  punishment,  when  their  real  need  is  inspiration,  knowledge 
and  opportunity.  Fifthly.  Courts  usually  administer  two  distinct  sorts  of  justice  : 
one  for  whites  and  one  for  Negroes;  and  this  custom,  together  with  the  fact  that 
judge  and  court  officials  are  invariably  white  and  elected  to  office  by  the  influence 
of  white  votes  alone,  makes  it  very  difficult  for  a  Negro  to  secure  justice  in  court 
when  his  opponent  is  white.  Sixthly.  The  methods  of  punishment  of  Negro  crim- 
inals is  calculated  to  breed  crime  rather  than  stop  it.  Lynching  spreads  among 
black  folk  the  firmly  fixed  idea  that  few  accused  Negroes  are  really  guilty ;  the 
leasing  of  convicts,  even  the  present  system  of  state  control,  makes  the  state 
traffic  in  crime  for  the  sake  of  revenue  instead  of  seeking  to  reform  criminals  for 
the  sake  of  moral  regeneration ;  and  finally  the  punishment  of  Negro  criminals  is 
usually  unintelligent :  they  are  punished  according  to  the  crime  rather  than  ac- 
dording  to  their  criminal  record ;  little  discrimination  is  made  between  old  and 
young,  male  and  female,  hardened  thug  and  careless  mischief-maker;  and  the  re- 
sult is  that  a  single  sentence  to  the  chaingang  for  a  trivial  misdemeanor  usually 
makes  the  victim  a  confirmed  criminal  for  life. 

EXTENT  AND  CURE  OF  CRIME 

3.  There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  crime  is  increasing  among  Negroes  in  this 
state.    Save  in  a  few  of  the  larger  towns  there  seems  to  be  a  marked  decrease  since 


4.  The  cure  for  Negro  crime  lies  in  moral  uplift  and  inspiration  among  Negroes. 
The  masses  of  the  race  must  be  made  vividly  to  realize  that  no  man  ever  has  an  ex- 
cuse for  laziness,  carelessness,  and  wrong-doing.  That  these  are  not  a  cure  for  op- 
pression, but  rather  invite  and  encourage  further  oppression.    Negroes  then  must 


66  NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 

be  taught  to  stop  fighting,  gambling,  and  stealing,  which  seem  to  be  the  usual  mis- 
demeanors of  the  careless;  and  particularly  the  law-abiding  must  separate  them- 
selves from  that  dangerous  criminal  element  among  us  who  are  responsible  for 
murder,  rape  and  burglary,  and  vigorously  condemn  the  crime  and  the  criminal. 
Four  agencies  among  Negroes  may  work  toward  this  end :  the  church,  the 
school,  institutions  for  rescue  work,  and  the  juvenile  reformatory.  The  first  step 
in  Georgia  would  seem  to  be  one  toward  a  reformatory  for  Negro  youth. 

APPEAL  TO   WHITES 

5.  Finally,  this  conference  appeals  to  the  white  people  of  Georgia  for  six  things : 
Fairer  criminal  laws;  justice  in  the  courts;  the  abolition  of  state  traffic  in  crime 
for  public  revenue  and  private  gain;  more  intelligent  methods  of  punishment;  the 
refusal  to  allow  free  labor  to  be  displaced  by  convict  labor ;  and  finally  a  wider 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  honest,  intelligent,  law-abiding  black  men  are  safer 
neighbors  than  ignorant,  underpaid  serfs,  because  it  is  the  latter  class  that  breeds 
dangerous  crime. 


INDEX 


Ages  of  colored  prisoners,  14, 15. 

Alabama,  18. 

Answers  of  students,  54-55. 

Appeal  to  whites,  66. 

Arkansas,  7. 

Arrests,  police,  20-23,  29,  31,  50, 51,  53. 

Atkinson,  Governor,  6. 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  23,  49-50. 

Augusta,  crime  in,  52-54. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  22,  23,  26,  27,  28,  29. 
Bibliography,  vi. 
Bond,  Rev.  Mr.  James,  64. 
Bradley,  Rev.  Mr.  H.  S.,  64. 
Bumstead,  President  Horace,  64. 
Bureau,  Freedman's,  3,  4. 
Burroughs,  Miss  N.  H.,  64. 

Cable,  Geo.  W.,  6. 

Cater,  Mrs.  Mary  Tate,  64. 

Cato,  3. 

Causes  of  Negro  crime,  55-59. 

Census,  crime  and  the,  9-18. 

Chadwick,  Miss  Amy,  64. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  20,  21,  23,  26,  29,  30,  31. 

Charts:  Arrests,  21,  24,  25;  annual  peni- 
tentiary commitments,  27;  literacy,  62; 
lynchings,  61 ;  population,  62;  property, 
62. 

Chicago,  111.,  20,  21,  22,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30. 

Chicago  Tribune,  18. 

Cincinnati,  O.,  20,  21,  22,  26. 

Cities,  crime  in,  18-32. 

Colored  prisoners,  13. 

Comments:  From  Negroes,  42-48;  from 
whites,  38-40. 

Commission,  the  prison,  32-35. 

Conclusions,  60-64. 

Convict-lease  system,  2,  4, 7,  8, 34. 

Convicts,  occupations  of  Negro,  35. 

Coombs,  the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  G.,  52,  64. 

Courts,  discrimination  in,  43,  44,  45,  46,  47, 
48,  64. 

Crime:  Amount  of,  60,  61,  65;  causes  of 
Negro,  55-59,  65;  cure  of,  65-66;  decrease 
of,  33,  34,  36,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41,  43,  46,  48,  64; 
extent  of  Negro,  13-18,65;  illiteracy  and, 
15, 16, 17, 18;  in  cities,  18-32;  increase  of, 
33,  34,  3(5,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41,  42,  43,  47,  48;  in 


Georgia,  32-48 ;  in  Jamaica,  56;  kinds  of, 
29, 30, 38, 39,  40,  41 ;  slavery  and,  2-9;  state 
income  from,  32,  34,  60,  61;  the  census 
and,  9-18;  what  Negroes  think  of,  54-55. 

Crop-lien  system,  the,  2. 

Cutler,  Miss  J.  F.,  64. 

Davis,  Miss  L.  D.,  52. 

Day,  the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  Eustace,  64. 

Decrease  of  crime,  33,  34,  36,  37,  38,  39,  40, 

41,  43,  46,  48,  64. 
Delaware,  8. 

Discrimination  in  courts,  43,  44,  45,  46,  47, 

48,  64. 
Downward  tendencies,  60-61. 

Escridge,  Miss  Hattie,  64. 

Extent  of  Negro  crime,  13-18. 

Falkner,  Dr.  Roland  P.,  11. 

Faults:    Of  Negroes,  55-56;  of  whites,  56- 

57. 
Florida,  7. 
Freedman's  Bureau,  3,  4. 

Gabriel,  3. 

Kardamont,  Georgia,  Camp,  5. 

Harris,  Miss  Ruth,  64. 

Illinois,  26,  27,  28,  29. 
Illiteracy,  crime  and,  15, 16, 17, 18. 
Income  of  state  from  crime,  32,  34,  60,  61. 
Increase  of  crime,  33,  34,  36,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41, 

42,  43,  47,  48. 
Indiana,  26,  27,  28. 
Indianapolis,  22. 

Jail  commitments,  23-26. 

Jamaica,  crime  in,  56. 

Justice,  discrimination  in,  43,  41,  45,  46,  47, 

48,  64. 
Juvenile  reform,  5,  8,  35,  58. 

Kansas,  26,  27,  28. 
Kellor,  58  (note),  59  (note). 
Kentucky,  8. 
King,  Mrs.  G.  S.,  64. 
Knight,  Dean  L.  L.,  64. 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  3. 

Larceny,  39,  40,  41. 
Literacy,  increase  in,  62,  68. 


68 


NINTH  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE 


Louisville,  Ky.,  20,  21,  23,  26. 
Lynchings,  18, 19,  56,  60,  61. 

Maryland,  8. 
Massachusetts,  1,  7. 
Memphis,  23. 
Michigan,  23,  26,  27,  28,  29. 
Milledgeville  State  Prison,  32,  33. 
Mississippi,  9,  10,  16, 17. 
Moorland,  the  Rev.  Mr.  J.  E.,  64. 
Murder,  30,  31,  45. 

Negro  prisoners,  13,  14, 15, 

New  England,  2,  5,  7,  8, 17. 

New  York,  10,  20,  21. 

Ninth  Atlanta  Conference,  the,  64. 

North  Carolina,  17. 

Occupations  of  Negro  convicts,  35. 

Offenses  of  Negroes,  13, 14, 15. 

Ohio,  23,  26. 

Olivier,  Sidney,  56  (note). 

Pauperism,  causes  of,  1-2. 

Penitentiary  commitments,  26-32. 

Penn,  Dr.  W.  F.,  64. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  20,  21,  26. 

Poe,  Mr.  Clarence,  16. 

Police  arrests,  20-23,  29,  31,  50,  51,  53. 

Population,  increase  in  Negro,  61,  62. 

Prison  commission,  the,  32-35. 

Prisoners,  colored,  13, 14, 15;  punishment 
of,  58,  59. 

Prisoners  in  United  States,  11. 

Prison  population  in  Georgia,  33,  34,  35. 

Prison  population,  sentences  of,  12. 

Problem,  the,  1-2. 

Proctor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  H.  H.,  49,  64. 

Property  of  Negroes  in  Georgia,  62,  63,  64. 

Public  schools:  In  Atlanta,  49;  in  Au- 
gusta, 53,  54;  in  Savannah,  52. 


Reformatories,  juvenile,  5,  8,  35,  58. 
Reports:     From    Negroes,    40-41; 


from 


whites,  36-37. 
Resolutions  of  the  Conference,  65-66. 

Sanborn,  Mr.  Prank  B.,  1,  64. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  20,  21,  22,  23,  29,  30,  31,  32, 49, 

50-52. 
Sentences,  length  of,  12,  35;  life,  35. 
Slavery  and  crime,  2-3,  9,  10. 
Sledd,  Professor  Andrew,  57. 
Some  conclusions,  60-64. 
South  Carolina,  17. 
Southern  criminal  conditions,  57-59. 
Special  reports,  35-48. 
State  prisons  and  reformatories,  income 

and  expense  of,  5. 
Stealing,  38,  39,  40,  42. 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  20,  21,  22,  23,  26. 
Students,  answers  of,  54-55. 
Summary  of  reports,  48. 

Tendencies:    Downward,   60-61;    upward, 

61-64. 
Tennessee,  8. 
Texas,  8.  ( 

Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  3. 
Tribune,  the  Chicago,  18. 
Turner,  Nat,  3. 

Union  Army,  4. 

Upward  tendencies,  61-64. 

Vardaman,  Gov.  James  K.,  9,  10, 17, 18;  an- 
swer to,  9-11. 
Vesey,  Denmark,  3. 
Virginia,  8. 

Washington,  D.  C,  20,  21,  22,  23,  26. 

West  Virginia,  8. 

What  Negroes  think  of  crime,  54-55. 

Willcox,  Professor  Walter  F.,  9. 

Wilmer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  C.  B.,  64. 

Wines,  Mr.,  2. 

Workhouse  commitments,  26. 

Work,  Mr.  Monroe  N.,  18,  49,  64. 


The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man'* 


STUDIES  OF  NEGRO  PROBLEMS 


The  Atlanta  University  Publications 


,No. 

No. 
No. 

m. 

No. 
No. 


No. 


No. 


LNO. 


1 — Mortality  among  Negroes  in  Cities  ;  51  pp.,  1896. 

— Mortality  among  Negroes  in  Cities  ;  24  pp.,  (2nd  ed., 
abridged,  1903). 

2 — Social  and  Physical  Conditions  of  Negroes  in  Cities  ; 
86  pp.,  1897. 

3 — Some  Efforts  of  Negroes  for  Social  Betterment;  66pp., 

1898. 

4 — The  Negro  in  Business  ;  ■  78  pp. ,  1899. 
5 — The  College-bred  Negro  ;  115  pp.,  1900. 
— The  College-bred  Negro;  32  pp.,  (2nd  ed.  abridged). 

6— The  Negro  Common  School  ;  120  pp.,  1901. 
7— The  Negro  Artisan;  ..  2(M> pp.,  1902. 
8— Tjk  Negro  Church;  212  pp.,  1903. 
9 — Notes  on  Negro  Crime  ;  75  pp.,  1904. 
10 — Methods  and  Results. 


Some  single  numbers  and  a  few  complete  and  incomplete  sets  are 

for  sale 

For  prices,  address  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois,  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


We  study  the  problem  that  others  discus* 


OW  that  the  white  savages  of  Europe 
are  overrunning  the  dark  savages 
everywhere;  now  that  the  European  na- 
tions are  vying  with  one  another  in  polit- 
ical  burglaries;  now  that  we  have  entered 
upon  an  era  of  social  cannibalism  in  which 
the  strong  nations  are  devouring  the 
weaker;  now  that  national  interests,  na= 
tional  prestige,  pluck,  and  so  forth,  are 
alone  thought  of,  and  equity  has  utterly 
dropped  out  of  thought,  while  rectitude  is 
scorned  as  "unctious";  it  is  useless  to  re-3 
sist  the  wave  of  barbarism.  There  is  a 
bad  time  coming,  and  civilized  man  will 
(morally)  be  uncivilized  before  civilization 
can  again  advance. 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 


MHMamra 


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